Tokyo's Unofficial Mario Kart Service Continues To Dress Up Riders After Nintendo Wins Lawsuit

Nintendo is going to swoop in there like how Lakitu forced me to go the "right way" in Mario Kart

Hm, they got guts. Unfortunately guts don’t do much against law suits. They must really be raking in money to continue anyways.

Banana peels, Nintendo. Easy solution.

Here we go again !

@BAN
Why Banana Peels ?
Psst.... Blue Shell.

....I see a lot of concern over IP, but none about, y'know.... public safety. Am I missing something? Is Japan that crazy?

@Anti-Matter Only because banana peels are easier to obtain and deploy in real life.

@DarthNocturnal
Welcome to Japan, country of Brilliant & Insane.

Guess they wanna get shut down then.

This is and has been a serious [removed] move by Nintendo. I hope, upon appeal, someone comes to their freakin senses, because screw Nintendo on this one. Next you won't be able to cosplay Nintendo characters and they'll have Reggie out in a creeper van on Halloween scooping up children wearing homemade costumes. [removed]. Move.

_{Please mind your language - Octane}

@Tsusasi They get money for using their IP. It's the same as a company opening up a theme park using Nintendo IP without their permission.

@brutalpanda Nowhere near as big as a theme park, but still ajnsksksjsnmove. Why not just ask for a piece of the action? Why destroy a business? Or better yet... knowing what couch change they make compared to Nintendo-sized profits, why not just leave them the hell alone? Greed is ugly.

I mean, going against court orders won't end well, and it sure as hell won't help with their appeal.

@Tsusasi These karts have been known to cause serious traffic problems in Japan and hurt Nintendo’s reputation with these problems. Do you think Nintendo should “team up” if a racist organization used Nintendo characters in their promotions, it’s not like it’d ruin their reputation and it would help the branch out, right?

Despicable. I hope Nintendo sues them into the ground. You don't get to just steal someone else's intellectual property like this. You think Disney, Marvel, Sony, Microsoft, Fox, Universal or any other major media company would just allow this? Heck no! And they'd be well within their rights to sue!

@Tsusasi "The unofficial Mario Kart ride service has also come under fire in the past for causing havoc on local streets - with tourists even crashing the vehicles."
greed huh?

@Tasuki I know Disney knows Marvel now... I just try and pretend they don't. But Fox is still it's own thing... right? Or did they buy Fox too?

@Heavyarms55 Disney is in the process of buying Fox.

@Tsusasi Your logic is inverted. The jerks are the ones infringing on Nintendo's rights, not the other way around. Nintendo is the victim in this case whether they are a big corporation or not.

@Mrtoad How in the actual hell is that even an equitable comparison?

@roboshort Oh lord. Yup. Let me break out the violin for them.

@Aozz101x There are always crashes where go karts are concerned. Better regulated maybe? This is more of a matter for police/local authorities. If they are really that bad, they should/would be shut down. When I was there a few weeks ago, I couldn't ride because I didn't have an 'international driver's license' (a bit of a scam on the part of people like AAA, who is authorized to issue them... for a fee).

@Tsusasi They’re both using Nintendo’s name (or properties) to imply endorsement (it doesn’t matter if the companies infringing don’t intend to imply endorsement, it still does imply endorsement) with something Nintendo wouldn’t want to be associated with (racism/traffic problems)

@Mrtoad
Disney is buying Fox ?
Oh gosh...
I will be more pickier about Disney movies in the future.
Star Wars in Disney was simply ruined a whole Disney's image in my opinion.

@Mrtoad (racism/traffic problems)

Um... ok. Yeah. Totally the same.

@Mrtoad Oh good lord, God help us all. Aren't there laws against this sort of thing? At this rate Disney is going to own everything!

@Anti-Matter You got it backwards dude, Disney ruined Star Wars.

This company is one of my clients at GaijinPot.com, so I’ve heard their side of the story. Basically they’ve never had an accident. All accidents attributed to them have been from private enthusiasts, and not their employees or guests. Safety is definitely a top priority for them (within the parameters of driving a go-kart on major streets...) plus the costumes their guests wear are all “officially licenses” costumes that Nintendo sells. They don’t use any Nintendo IP on their website it marketing material. Just that users wear those official costumes while driving. So it gets a bit murky. They certainly follow all laws of the road and whatnot quite carefully.
Everyone who takes their tours always say it’s an excellent experience.
I feel like it’s a net positive for Nintendo, and the big N is trying to have it’s cake and eat it too.

@Heavyarms55
No wonder Disney Channel shows lately become boring and uninspiring like during 2000's.
Just look at their shows, almost same uninteresting as Cartoon Network nowadays.

@Anti-Matter On that note, I wouldn't know. I haven't watched either in years. I haven't watched regular TV in years. 99% of everything I watch is via Netflix, YouTube, Crunchyroll and Twitch.

@Heavyarms55
Same.
I rarely watching TV lately.
Youtube is my alternative channel for interesting videos to watch.

I’d like to know more about the legal side of this. Does Nintendo own the rights to wearing red with blue in go karts? Usually IP differentiation can be as little as removing an emblem or logo (stop wearing Mario’s hat, turn Yoshi into a green rhino).

There was a studio that used Mario and Luigi for a porno. How’s that protected under fair use, but this isn’t?

I think they ghosted the lawsuit victory from nintendo.

@Heavyarms55 Disney ruined Star Wars? George Lucas achieved that all on his own long before Disney got involved

@ItsOKToBeOK someone actually made a adult video using Mario and luigi and got away with it? I'd ask for proof but I'm afraid of what I'd see.

Nintendo, ready your lawyers.

@Tsusasi On top of the IP side of things - if someone crashes and hurts someone (or themselves) it looks like (and will be reported) as a Nintendo related accident/problem... Nintendo has no control over what this company does, so of course they don’t want to increase their assumed risk for something they have nothing to do with.

Karts like this in Paris would have a life expectancy of about 30 seconds. This is madness on its own, even without the IP infringement.
I bet many clients do it as a bachelor party activity, so they are most-likely drunk.

@Heavyarms55 "Ruined" Star Wars? I might agree with you if the series ever achieved the same greatness as the original trilogy. Closest they ever came was the 2003 Clone Wars, but the prequel trilogy, the CG animated Clone Wars, the Droids and Ewoks cartoons, Ewoks movie... the Christmas Special... I think the series had its share of low points before Episode 8.
At least Disney seemed to improve Marvel, although I wish I could watch a film without fear of needing to watch ANOTHER film to get the full story.

@Mrtoad @Anti-Matter if I'm not mistaken, it's 20th century fox that's being bought by Disney. 20th owns the movie rights to marvel properties like deadpool. Just like how sony owns Spider-Man. So Disney is buying a piece off of fox.

@KayFiOS Star Wars was at its best in the expanded universe. The Thrawn Trilogy, the X-wing series, the New Jedi Order and the various other interconnected games and comics that went along with it. When Disney bought Star Wars, they threw all that out, keeping only the original films and prequels, then turned around and started making flashy and otherwise lazy cash grab films that ruin existing ideas from other sources.

As for Marvel, Disney thankfully has largely let Marvel continue to run itself. If Disney had treated Marvel like they did Star Wars, Marvel be nothing today.

@Tsusasi It's hardly greed when the IP being used are owned by another company. Cosplay is one thing but another company making money off Nintendo without Nintendo getting any of that money for something that they own is against the law.

Nintendo banning clothes. Wow.

These people seem determined to get sued so much their grandchildren will be paying Nintendo back. It is simple. Remove the Nintendo costumes and Nintendo will have no grounds to sue them. There is nothing stopping people getting costumes from other places then using the carts. Renting costumes is fine, riding carts is fine.

@Tsusasi you say Nintendo is greedy for not letting others use their IP to make money but have you thought that the actual greedy one is the company using Nintendo’s IP without their permission to make money?

Think of it this hypothetical scenario. You made your own game and it becomes successful but one day, you found out another person is using your characters, your creation without your permission to make a profit which you get none of even though they borrowed your idea. What’s worst, whatever bad business practices they are doing (let’s say it’s a restaurant they are using underpayed child labour), puts a negative image on you because people only see these characters are your creation and so that must mean you endorse child labour for having such business running.

Nintendo is usually Draconic with their control but It’s really not that hard to see that Nintendo is easily in the right for this one.

@Heavyarms55 Okay, I never thought to add games into the equation, and I loved Rogue Squadron/LEGO Star Wars! As for comics, I haven't read any aside from a manga based on the original trilogy. I read a couple books, like "The Courtship of Princess Leia" in high school. Can't remember if that one is any good, but I was kinda bummed when Kylo Ren's real name wasn't Anakin, since that was the name of one of Leia's children in that book, though Kylo already has enough Vader envy as is. Anyways, I apparently missed out on some of the high points of the franchise and grew up with a lot of schlock.

@Tsusasi A lot of the locals hate this thing. They don't like Japan turned into some sort of Theme park to wave at.

@KayFiOS The Courtship was fun but written before they had really gotten some of the terminology standardized, so there are some oddities in the book that don't fit. But I still liked it. Lego Star Wars was always its own thing, but most of the games like KOTOR 1 and 2, Dark Forces, X-wing vs. Tie fighter, Jedi Academy were tied in.

And yes, Han and Leia had 3 children in the books, Jacen and Jaina, twins born a few years after the episode 6, and then a year later Anakin, named for his grandfather. They all grew into interesting characters in their own right during first the "Young Jedi Knights" young adult books, and later in the New Jedi Order novels. In high school and college I used to dream of seeing those stories on the big screen, or as a live action TV series (there were rumors of an HBO series at one point).

Then Disney went and bought the rights, threw it all in the trash, claimed the right to ruin ideas from it without any context, and cancelled any ongoing plans or projects with the sole exception of the "Old Republic" MMO PC game.

Haven’t they had deaths or injuries? It’s all fun and games until they’re scraping Bowser off the tire of a sub compact.

@Smash_kirby If it's that bad, locals hate it so much and it poses this insane threat to public safety, why hasn't it been shut down?

@FTL I don't believe for one minute that Nintendo is at any legal risk. It would get thrown out of court before anyone could be seated if anyone was that stupid. Make them post everywhere and make it part of the contract that they are in no way affiliated with Nintendo. Problem solved.

@Snow-Dust If it's just a local business, I'd negotiate. Up to a certain amount of profit, I'd let them make their money. Past that, I'd ask for a percentage. I'd let them continue provided they clean up their business practices and require proof at regular intervals. Also, I'd require them to post the nature of business relationship. And if whatever game I produced gets me Nintendo sized paydays, I wouldn't begrudge someone making a buck.

@Tsusasi Where did I say they were both the same thing? And your ignoring my entire point, just so you can say “LOL guyz this person called racism and traffic problems the same thing” Again Nintendo does not have to/ should not “team up” with some company causing problems that will become associated with Nintendo and their IP if they keep using Nintendo’s properties without their permission.

@MegaMari0 They’re buying the majority of it except for the parts they legally can’t buy from Murdoch (Sports, News, etc.) They’ll own the studio (and it’s output), they’ll own Fox’s cable channels, a 40% ownership of Hulu, and several other things that are much more minor.

@Tsusasi In Terms of the risk I think you misunderstood what I meant - I don’t mean legal risk - I mean that it would be publically assiciated with Nintendo if something went wrong, and yet it actually has nothing to do with them - therefore it’s a PR risk for them.

@Mrtoad
Completely agree with you. I support Nintendo in seeking to stop this company. As a graphic designer I would be upset if people were using my designs without me making money on it. More importantly if they warped the designs or used them to promote inappropriate content I don't support I would take serious legal action. It is not greed, its is fairness and reputation (in a non-prideful way).

@Tsusasi you're right, that's the authorities job. but, Nintendo also has the right to try to stop it from further damages to them (the company) and anyone in japan.

Nintendo: https://youtu.be/mssRg96byvk

@Tsusasi If a company doesn't defend their IP, they can lose the rights to it.

Nintendo right now: https://youtu.be/mssRg96byvk

@Tsusasi That’s all well and good but it’s quite clear MariCar quite clearly isn’t changing its business model and quite clearly did not negotiate with Nintendo to use their IP again without their permission. They could’ve went without Mario costume and try to struck some kind of deal beforehand. I for one would not trust a company like that.

Also it isn’t really the legal risk but rather it is the commercial risk that is the problem. You said just make the customers sign a contract but while the customers know it is not affiliated with Nintendo, what about the locals who hates this thing? They aren’t going to know or want to know that this isn’t affiliated with Nintendo. What about local news reporters who would most likely see the chaos it causes and not the contract you speak of, this is especially the case if some news reach international level.

It also doesn’t help when the company calls itself Maricar or Mari Mobility Company which make it looks like it’s affiliated with Mario as it chops the “O” out.

[looking at Bowser]
"He who koops and runs away lives to koop another day!"

In all seriousness, though, given I have a rubber replica of the Master Sword (without its edge, courtesy of the Milan Games Week security measures a few days ago), a pair of white jeans, two boots and an official Link hoodie, should I have to pay royalties if I ever were to go around in cosplay? Because I think there's only so much copyright protection can do.

@Tsusasi That is why Nintendo is shutting it down. It is more of cultural issue, but not shutting it down due to the traffic issues is strange.

@Tsusasi If Nintendo teams up, they will be responsible for this. Perhaps Nintendo prefers to be more concerned about safety than earning a few bucks from random events using their characters. If they allow other companies to use their Characters for what they like, they loose the rights to those characters themselves. Nintendo must sue these guys, their hands are tied, especially if they want to use their characters in their own real-life theme park one day. If they allow this, they don't have legal room to deny anyone else to actually start a theme park. Having Mario in an event like this screams "Endorsed by the company behind Mario", more than the Nintendo logo would.

I can see this being complicated for Nintendo, because the issue is simply people dressing up in costumes. Nintendo trying to shut that down with lawsuits would be like them trying to shut down kids wearing Nintendo related costumes during Halloween by threatening to sue every kid who wears one. In the end they would just be doing themselves far more damage than the people dressing up could ever do, and last I checked you can't sue somebody for dressing up as someone as that is protected under fair use and parody laws.

I'd find it hilarious if Nintendo sues them all the way to bankruptcy. Not that I want to see people lose their jobs, but acting with arrogance when they've already been told legally to stop it deserves some serious punitive action.