French Supreme Court Renders Verdict Favoring Nintendo Against Website Hosting Pirated Game Copies
By “Nintendo is delighted with the Court’s determination and considers that it is important not just for Nintendo, but for the entire gaming sector.”
Nintendo has successfully concluded a lengthy legal battle against the French file hosting service Dstorage.
In a ruling dated February 26, 2025, the French Supreme Court found Dstorage “responsible for not removing access to unauthorized duplicates of Nintendo games hosted on its platform” – in reference to the file sharing service 1fichier.com.
This ruling implies that various European-based file sharing sites must remove pirated versions of games when requested, or risk legal action and potential penalties.
Nintendo initially filed a lawsuit against Dstorage in 2021, after previously asking the company to take down unauthorized Nintendo games hosted on 1fichier.com.
Dstorage appealed the decision, but was unsuccessful when in April 2023, the Paris Court of Appeals ordered the company to compensate Nintendo €422,750 and pay €25,000 in legal fees.
Dstorage subsequently escalated the case to the French Supreme Court, arguing that a judicial order was necessary before they could remove pirated material. This appeal ultimately did not succeed, resulting in a victory for Nintendo in court.
“Nintendo is pleased with the Court’s finding of liability against Dstorage and believes that it is significant for not only Nintendo, but for the entire games industry,” the company stated.
“It will prevent file hosting services like 1fichier.com from arguing, as they did during the trial, that a prior court decision is required before pirated content must be removed, and it reinforces the rights that copyright holders have to notify when claiming that alerted content violates copyright or trademark laws.”
It further stated: “Alongside its recent decision as of January 15, 2025, which confirmed that a major French bank appropriately ended a payment processing agreement with 1fichier.com due to inadequate anti-piracy controls, the French Supreme Court leaves no ambiguity that file hosting providers like 1fichier.com must comply with copyright protections.”