LogFAQs > #982362142

SF_Okami posted...

As an actual lawyer who studied this topic in depth, can confirm this is absolutely true.

Companies can cry and whine about people emulating their games, but there is caselaw that 100% says that emulation of video games is perfectly legal. Nintendo just does not like it and they can use their status as a global entity to influence people to capitulate to their demands.

However, if someone were to actually fight them on it, they would actually lose. And Nintendo knows that. I think that if someone resisted, then they would likely not pursue legal action since they know they would lose.

Emulation itself as a concept is fine. What's being emulated and how it got into the emulator, however, is another matter. The article in the OP mentions it was a Wii U video that was taken down. Did the video in question showcase a device that played actual Wii U discs? I believe that should be OK, though Nintendo may have some patents on the hardware and/or firmware that could still be active to make a move against it. Yeah, the article says it's a copyright strike, but I'm not familiar with YouTube's system to know if they lump both things together for an IP holder to make a strike against a video. The Sony / Connectix case you mentioned may come into play if the device was playing actual physical media from a older Nintendo console. Or, in today's climate, that case could be overturned.

But if the video showed a ROM of a Nintendo game being played on the device, that's a different matter.