Back in November 2024, we covered a case in which Nintendo of America had filed a lawsuit against an individual who had "repeatedly streamed pirated and emulated" Switch games while also using social media to promote Switch emulators to the general public.
Now, after defendant Jesse Keighin – known under the online alias 'Every Game Guru' – failed to respond to Nintendo's complaints, the latter is seeking a default judgement from the court and a total of $17,500 in damages alongside a permanent injunction against Keighin, effectively ordering him to refrain from any infringing activities going forward while destroying "all circumvention devices" that may be in his possession.
Although the paperwork lists a total of 10 Switch games that were emulated and broadcasted prior to their official release, Nintendo is seeking "a single statutory damages award for a representative work in suit" in order to "simplify the damages analysis".
As such, the damage total for one game (which the paperwork lists as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) sits at $10,000. Meanwhile, for circumvention of technological protection measures and trafficking in circumvention technology, Nintendo requests additional damages of $7,500 (or $500 each for a total of 15 violations), bringing the total to $17,500.
According to the paperwork, Keighin had illegally obtained and streamed 10 different Switch games "at least fifty times in the last two years", all of which occurred prior to their official release. He also allegedly shared public links to Switch emulators along with unauthorised repositories of game ROMs. In doing so, Nintendo believes he effectively trafficked in circumvention devices.