Now-Defunct RomUniverse Ordered to Destroy All of Its Pirated Nintendo Games After $2.1 Million Lawsuit

Not only did a California federal court order the now-defunct RomUniverse to destroy all of its pirated Nintendo games, but it has also filed an injunction that ensures the site won’t be allowed to come back online.

As reported by TorrentFreak, these new orders follow Nintendo’s victory in the lawsuit against the ROM-hosting site RomUniverse that was seeking damages for copyright infringement and federal trademark infringement. While the court had initially ordered RomUniverse to pay Nintendo $2.1 million in damages, the punishment has now become more severe.

Back in May 2021, the court granted this $2.1 million summary judgment against RomUniverse operator Matthew Storman, but Nintendo was denied a permanent injunction that would forbid the site from staying online. One of the reasons was related to the fact that Storman had taken the site down, and the court saw this as a sign that there would be no future infringements.

However, Nintendo asked the court to reconsider, especially after Storman hinted that RomUniverse could have a potential comeback.

“Plaintiff’s evidence demonstrates a threat of continued infringement based on Defendant’s representations that he may relaunch his website which previously contained Plaintiff’s copyrighted games. Accordingly, Plaintiff demonstrates irreparable harm warranting an injunction for Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim,” The court said.

This injunction prohibits RomUniverse’s operator to “copy, distribute, sell, or even play unauthorized copies of Nintendo games.” It is also forbidden from using Nintendo trademarks, logos, or names in a “confusing” way.

Lastly, Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ordered that Storman must destroy all pirated Nintendo games by August 17, 2021.

“Defendant shall permanently destroy all unauthorized Nintendo games or other unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s intellectual property including movies, books, and music no later than August 17, 2021; and Defendend shall file a declaration, under penalty of perjury, with the court certifying his compliance with these terms no later than August 20, 2021,” the court wrote.

This is another example of Nintendo’s focus on stopping these ROM-hosting sites from pirating its games, and follows another victory that awarded Nintendo $12 million from two other sites.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.