3 Count: Unmodding Nintendo

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1: Garry’s Mod is Taking Down Decades of Nintendo-Related Add-Ons

First off today, Emma Roth at The Verge reports that the popular physics sandbox video game Garry’s Mod has been hit with a series of copyright notices, forcing the game to remove Nintendo-related user-made assets from their workshop.

The game allows users to create various objects and worlds using the Source video game engine. It also has a shared workshop where users can upload their creations for others to use. However, items in that workshop that imitate Nintendo properties are being removed due to a copyright notice filed by Nintendo.

Initially, there was some concern that the notice was not legitimate. Though Nintendo is famously aggressive regarding copyright, it has allowed many of these items to remain online for over a decade. However, Garry Newman, the Garry in Garry’s Mod, has confirmed that the notice is legitimate and that they are still in the process of removing all Nintendo-owned content.

2: Ad Agency Sues Jindal Steels for Copyright Infringement

Next up today, BananaIP reports that, in India, the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy has filed a lawsuit against Jindal Steel, alleging that the company used a commercial they had created after canceling the contract the two shared.

According to the lawsuit, the ad agency worked with Jindal Steel to create a commercial. The two had a four-month contract that was canceled during the last month. According to Jindal Steel, the issues involved a change in the team that worked on the project and delays in delivery.

Wieden + Kennedy claims that, despite canceling the agreement, Jindal Steel used the created commercial. The judge in the case acknowledged that the commercial used elements created by the ad agency but refused to issue an injunction. The judge said that the contract between them has an arbitration clause and, since the agency can be made whole again through compensation, there was no need for an injunction at this time. There was no ruling on whether the commercial is an infringement.

3: Operation Anime Phase 2: New Anti-Piracy Crackdown Executed in Brazil

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security has announced a new wave of “Operation Anime,” an effort to shutter sites offering pirated versions of anime shows and films.

The first Operation Anime happened in early 2023. It was an offshoot of Operation 404, an international effort to shutter pirate websites. According to the announcement, the new round will have the same goal as the previous one: Seizing funds and equipment connected with pirate websites.

What is different in this second round is that the ministry has a new partner, the South Korea-based Copyright Overseas Promotion Association. So far, the latest operation has executed 11 search warrants in five different regions of the country.

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