Copyright infringement (whether infringement of paid software or free software) is against the law in most jurisdictions, including the United States. As a significant amount of online services (not least of all, Discord) are based or hosted in the United States, they are obligated to follow United States laws.
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== What is copyright infringement? == | == What is copyright infringement? == | ||
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Due largely to the concept of 'lost profits', copyright holders have (in many cases successfully) lobbied relevant governments and powers to make it illegal, or at least frowned upon, to install homebrew/CFW. Continued copyright infringement legitimizes their efforts, de-legitimizes the homebrew community at large, and makes it more difficult all around for both developers and users in the homebrew community. | Due largely to the concept of 'lost profits', copyright holders have (in many cases successfully) lobbied relevant governments and powers to make it illegal, or at least frowned upon, to install homebrew/CFW. Continued copyright infringement legitimizes their efforts, de-legitimizes the homebrew community at large, and makes it more difficult all around for both developers and users in the homebrew community. | ||
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== Does (Nintendo Homebrew/the community/anyone) actually care if I pirate a game? == | |||
Not really, no. Most communities have rules against piracy, discussing piracy or assisting with piracy primarily to ensure compliance with laws, regulations and Terms of Service. | |||
However, be aware that for every 'it's just me downloading one game, how much does it matter?' there are another 100 users just like you thinking the same thing. | |||
== Further reading == | |||
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uqm1FlouzBu7ih3JxF3vlT28fYIFY6PDcmZrItms7-o/edit?usp=sharing Google doc explaining NH's stance on piracy] | |||
* [https://nintendohomebrew.com/assets/piracyessay.docx 'Essay' response to a user questioning the logic of NH's stance] | |||
Latest revision as of 11:29, 23 November 2023
 | This page is a work in progress. |
What is copyright infringement?
As a broad phrase, copyright infringement relates to actions which 'infringe' on, or violate, a 'copyright' held by another party, usually a corporation or company in this context. The most common form of copyright infringement in the gaming community is software piracy, which is where a user downloads software from somewhere other than the copyright holder's authorized distribution channels, and most commonly without payment to the copyright holder (or their delegate).
What is piracy?
Piracy in the context of the gaming community can be simply defined as 'downloading paid software for free'.
Why does it matter?
Due largely to the concept of 'lost profits', copyright holders have (in many cases successfully) lobbied relevant governments and powers to make it illegal, or at least frowned upon, to install homebrew/CFW. Continued copyright infringement legitimizes their efforts, de-legitimizes the homebrew community at large, and makes it more difficult all around for both developers and users in the homebrew community.
Does (Nintendo Homebrew/the community/anyone) actually care if I pirate a game?
Not really, no. Most communities have rules against piracy, discussing piracy or assisting with piracy primarily to ensure compliance with laws, regulations and Terms of Service. However, be aware that for every 'it's just me downloading one game, how much does it matter?' there are another 100 users just like you thinking the same thing.