In recent years, the company DSTORAGE, which owns a download site (1fichier.com) in particular, has lost in court (before a possible appeal) to Nintendo that denounced the presence of video games in its catalog. Nintendo, which requested access to be blocked, welcomed the May 25 court ruling, which it therefore approved.
See also: Nintendo Switch: Piracy software provider targeted by Nintendo
And the Japanese company wanted to greet this first victory with a press release and even asked DSTORAGE to pay a heavy fine for it.
Here is the press release:
By judgment of May 25, 2021, the Paris court ruled that the company DSTORAGE SAS, which operates the 1fichier.com website, will be held civilly liable for failing to remove illegal copies of the Nintendo games hosted on its platform by Nintendo sent him notifications asking him to block access to this illegal content.
Overall, the court sentenced Dstorage to pay 935,500 dollars in damages. In its decision, the Tribunal determines how rights holders and providers of shared hosting services such as the file must behave when they report and remove illegal content. In addition, the Court underlines that rightholders are not required to seek prior judicial ruling before asking shared hosting service providers to remove illegal content. This decision is open to appeal.
Nintendo welcomes the decision of the Paris Court of Justice. The message it sends is clear: By refusing to access content like unauthorized copies of video games despite prior noticee, providers of shared hosting services such as Dstorage (1fichier) are liable under French law and are obliged to remove such content or make access to it impossible. Non-compliant services can be sentenced to claims for damages against rights holders whose intellectual property rights have been infringed.
Recognizing DSTORAGE’s responsibility is important not only for Nintendo but for the video game industry as a whole, as shared content hosts like 1File can only plead that a prior judicial decision is required to remove illegal content.
Nintendo encourages and nurtures development and creativity, and strongly supports developers who are the source of new and innovative software content. Nintendo urges consumers not to download illegal copies of Nintendo video games as this will affect the functionality and experience of real Nintendo products, be they video games or Nintendo game consoles.
Illegal or not?
The company DSTORAGE had already defended itself in 2019 and responded to its accusers with a press release (see below):
“The company DSTORAGE points out that, contrary to the disputed article, its legal position is clear. The DSTORAGE company is a host. As such, it benefits from a limitation of liability granted to each host in return for the services it brings to society. In this regard, the company DSTORAGE would like to remind you that this aim is not only to remove illegal content, especially that protected by intellectual property rights, but also to ensure that the withdrawals requested do not pose a risk of violating public freedoms . . In other words, as a host, the DSTORAGE company must not be paid by the beneficiaries, but must take into account the interests of the internet users. Therefore, a reporter must at least prove the ownership of his rights, be sure that the content to which the link refers is actually the reporter’s content or that the reported content is not subject to any exemption. Subject to compliance with these conditions and the resolution of the Constitutional Council of June 10, 2004, DSTORAGE acts as a conscientious host and takes back content that has been proven to be illegal. She also displays the terms and conditions of these withdrawals on her website: https://1fichier.com/abus.html. It is therefore wrong, and indicates a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of host accountability, to claim that DSTORAGE has a culture of legal ambiguity “.
What will it be today
