Nintendo hits GitHub with over 8,000 emulator-related DMCA takedowns

Nintendo has sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to over 8,000 GitHub repositories hosting code from the Yuzu Switch emulator, which the Zelda maker previously described as enabling “piracy on a colossal scale.” The mass takedown comes two months after Yuzu’s creators quickly settled a lawsuit with Nintendo and its notorious legal team for $2.4 million.

GamesIndustry.biz first reported on the DMCA notice affecting 8,535 GitHub repos. Redacted entities representing Nintendo claim that Yuzu’s source code contained in the repositories “illegally circumvents Nintendo’s technological security measures and executes illegal copies of Switch games.”

GitHub said in the notice that developers will have time to modify their content before it is disabled. In keeping with its developer-friendly approach and branding, the Microsoft-owned platform also offers legal resources and guidance for filing DMCA counter-notices.

Nintendo’s legal blow, perhaps not coincidentally, comes as game emulators are enjoying a resurgence. Last month, Apple loosened its restrictions on retro game players on the App Store (probably in response to regulatory threats), leading to Delta’s emulator establishing itself as the de facto choice and reaching the top spot on the App Store. Nintendo may have calculated that emulators’ moment in the sun was jeopardizing the bottom line and began by squashing those that most immediately threatened the revenue stream.

Unfortunately, Nintendo’s largely undefended legal attack on emulators ignores a decisive use to them it is not piracy. Game historians see software as essential to game preservation. Without emulators, Nintendo and other copyright holders could render some of the story obsolete for future generations, as their respective hardware would eventually be harder to find.