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The legality of using encryption keys for emulators or accessing personal video collections is a debated topic. These keys, typically generated by random number algorithms, are not subject to copyright protection unlike creative content. In the realm of DVDs, Blu-rays, and HD DVDs, the question arises: should using open-source software to decode, watch, or back up your legally acquired video collection be restricted due to these non-copyrightable encryption keys? See [[#Not directly about emulationRelated_to_emulation]] for the home media and home video realm.
There are even political parties, such as the [[Wikipedia:Pirate Party UK|Pirate Party UK]], whose core policies focus on reforming copyright and patent laws[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1bbn3bw/defending_emulation_rights_and_challenging/], supporting privacy, reducing government and business surveillance, and championing freedom of speech and expression.
:'''Outcome:''' Settlement. Both Citra (also under the same team and LLC) and Yuzu's online presence and development is discontinued. Tropic Haze was ordered to pay Nintendo $2.4m, retire from developing Yuzu or assisting Citra with development, issue statements denouncing emulation (in public) and claiming any emulation that deals with AES keys is illegal, and submit personal Switch hardware. See [[Yuzu#Lawsuit]].
::Also, roughly 8K repositories have been wiped[https://twitter.com/antique_codes/status/1785777982495453298][https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2024/04/2024-04-29-nintendo.md]. ::suyu, a fork of yuzu continues from where that project left off on GitLab instead of Github suggested by the community due to potential takedown attempt. However, GitLab still took down the suyu repository due to the use of raw yuzu code. As a result, the suyu team use their own repository. Although their discord channel forced to shut down due to a court order[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1c39xed/suyu_project_freeze_and_court_order/], killing the project. Another fork of yuzu, Sudachi emulator discord channel shut down[https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/11/24127545/discord-suyu-sudachi-server-shutdown-account-ban]. Provenance [[Frontends#Integrated_emulator_types|frontend]] received a DMCA takedown notice[https://twitter.com/provenanceapp/status/1785776471174176898]. See [[Nintendo Switch emulators#Comparisons]] section.
====Pressured====
;2023 - Yuzu (Switch) / various Youtube channels vs. Nintendo
:'''Action:''' Copyright take-down notices against videos promoting emulation of the Nintendo Switch for the following cases: Kotaku (game journalists) encouraging people to pirate leaked copies of Metroid Dread and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom after Nintendo denied them review copies (NoA Nintendo of America took down the very video used in the article), Multiplayer mod for Zelda Breath of the Wild promoted on the Youtube channel of the mod author, and others.
:'''Reason:''' Generic copyrighted audiovisual content DMCA justification (Game footage)
:'''Outcome:''' No further retaliation from Nintendo against either Yuzu or the YouTube channels. Zelda Multiplayer mod shut down the project pre-emptively to avoid further trouble.
==Related to emulation==
Dumping tools, copying home media and home video content, media player softwares with optical discs encryption and copy protection techniques and codec situations since all of them are somewhat related to emulation, either directly or indirectly. Copyright infringement and attempts to remove infringing content through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have been ongoing issues in the [[Home_Media_Player|home media and home video]] (especially VCR), [[Ripping_games|dumping tools]], [[Home_Media_Player#Media_player_software|media player softwares with optical discs encryption and copy protection techniques, codec situations]] (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc support etc.)
===2K===
*2024 - WWE 2K24 has unbanned modder WhatsTheStatus following complaints from its community. [https://twitter.com/WhatsTheStatus WhatsTheStatus] - who was banned for "violation of terms" - revealed on Twitter/X that, after speaking with 2K and the WWE team, they had "come to an agreement, and a fair one at that". Originally, 2K and/or developer Visual Concepts was unhappy with WhatsTheStatus' mods, saying that as they "negatively impact the game experience for other players", the modder was banned in order to ensure there is a "positive WWE 2K24 experience for all players".[https://www.eurogamer.net/wwe-2k24-u-turns-on-modder-ban-following-community-backlash][https://old.reddit.com/r/WWEGames/comments/1ce39kx/wwe_2k24_x_whatsthestatus/]
===Atari===
;2010~
*Quite infamously, Apple hires anyone behind a promising iPhone emulator or compatibility layer, and it almost always gets shut down and scrubbed off the face of the Internet.
*Apple used to have a really strict rule about emulators not being allowed on the App Store, however, there have been some recent developments suggesting a relaxation of this policy[https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/apple-now-allows-retro-game-emulators-on-its-app-store-but-with-big-caveats/][https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1bwtwb1/apple_app_store_guidelines_updated_emulators_now/]. Although some of the developers from emulation community stated that the platform is still not attractive for emulators for various reasons[https://www.ppsspp.org/news/apple-announcement-comment/][https://twitter.com/MikageEmu/status/1776558775064760798][https://oatmealdome.me/blog/why-dolphin-isnt-coming-to-the-app-store/][https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2024/04/30/dolphin-progress-report-february-march-and-april-2024/#why-dolphin-isnt-coming-to-the-ios-app-store], but for others it's good enough to release their projects[https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24134767/emulators-iphone-delta-google-meta-ai-vergecast-podcast][https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1c6go36/delta_emulator_now_live_on_the_app_store/][https://github.com/yoshisuga/MAME4iOS/issues/457]. Overall, there is some uncertainty about how the new App Store policies will affect emulators. Some developers believe that the new policies will make no difference, while others are more optimistic. It remains to be seen how Apple will interpret their own rules.
===Amazon===
===Bandai Namco===
*2024 - Notice of Infringement tekkenmods.com[https://twitter.com/DennisStanistan/status/1777610181217513979].
===Internet Archive===
;2023 - Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachette_v._Internet_Archive]
:'''Action:''' Hachette Book Group, along with Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Wiley, sued the Internet Archive in June 2020.
:'''Reason:''' The publishers argued that the Internet Archive's programs, Open Library and National Emergency Library (NEL), infringed on their copyrights. The lawsuit focused on the practice of "controlled digital lending" (CDL) where the Archive scanned and lent digital copies of books from their collections, even if those books were still under copyright. The publishers argued this wasn't fair use and cut into their potential sales.
:'''Outcome;'''
:*March 2023: The court ruled against the Internet Archive, finding CDL in this case wasn't protected by fair use.
:*August 2023: A negotiated settlement was reached. The Internet Archive agreed to stop lending digital copies of ebooks on which the publishers held copyright.
:*September 2023: The Internet Archive appealed the court's decision. The case is ongoing.
===Sony===
*[https://aftermath.site/pokemon-lawyer-cease-desist-fan-project-pikachu-movie Aftermath - What I Do: Pokémon’s Former Chief Lawyer On Shutting Down Fan Games & Honeymoon Business Deals]
*[[Wikipedia:Right_to_repair|Wikipedia - Right to repair]]
*[https://github.com/github/dmca/tree/master Github Repository with text of DMCA takedown notices as received]
[[Category:FAQs]]
