A Japanese charity speedrun series has been forced to pull Nintendo titles from its latest event because the publisher believes the showcase of its games constitutes "unauthorized use." Event organizers say they will now have to ask for explicit permission for each Nintendo game they want to showcase in the future.
RTA in Japan announced yesterday that Nintendo games had been removed from the lineup of its next event, which runs from August 9 through August 15, after contact from the publisher. According to a translation of the article from Automaton, Nintendo said that "as a legal entity, they would have to ask for permission in advance" to use any of the publisher's titles in future events.
On its website, RTA in Japan notes that it was inspired by the American charity speedrun event Games Done Quick, and each event typically benefits Doctors Without Borders. Given the good vibes – and tons of money for charity – GDQ brings every year, I imagine most folks reading this would agree that these sorts of charity speedrun events are a net good in the world, but Nintendo's got a long history of saying no to public exhibitions of its games.
RTA in Japan wants to stay in the company's good graces, so it's complying with the permission requests for future events. While Nintendo's notice came all the way back in June, the parties were seemingly unable to work out an agreement in time for the August event, so who knows how much red tape may lie before those future permission requests.
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