Nintendo has successfully sued a ROM site owner to the tune of $2.1 million after the now-unemployed operator of the closed waerz distribution site tried and failed to defend himself. Nintendo Continue to Prove That It Means Business Going forward, Nintendo should have fewer problems taking down similar sites.
Nintendo first filed a lawsuit against Matthew Storman back in September 2019. The Los Angeles resident was the operator of the ROM site, RomUniverse.com. Nintendo claims that Storman has unlawfully offered downloads of copyrighted game files. This included Nintendo Switch ROMs, among many others.
As per Nintendo, Storman's site had, at the time, established itself as one of the "most visited and notorious online hubs for pirated Nintendo video games".
As part of the trial, Storman admitted that the majority of his $36,000 a year income came from the money he made from the ROM site. This included the money that he made specifically for selling premium membership accounts for $30 a year. This membership gave privileged users unlimited and faster download speeds.
In September 2020, when Storman had signed an agreement with Nintendo to take down the ROM site, Storman claimed that he was still getting $800 a month from operating the site. However, things haven't gone well for Storman since. Court documents showed that Storman's income is now mostly compromised of "unemployment and food stamps."
Storman attempted to defend himself from Nintendo's accusations by invoking the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), otherwise known as "safe harbor" protections. Storman argued that he was merely a neutral party that provided service by sharing user files. Storman also was quick to point out that he had complied with Nintendo's initial requests, via DMCA, to take down content in the past.