Nintendo Sues Over Copyright Dispute

Nintendo of America Inc., of Redmond, has sued a San Francisco company to prevent distribution of a product that allows video-game players to change the way Nintendo games are played.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claims a new product called Game Genie, which is designed for play with a Nintendo home-video-game system, causes Nintendo game characters to move at slower speeds or bypass obstacles originally programmed into the games. It allows players to skip entire game levels, and to add extra ``lives'' to a player's life.

Nintendo claims the product, created by Lewis Galoob Toys of South San Francisco, creates ``derivative'' works of copyrighted Nintendo games.

``U.S. copyright law prevents third parties from creating and marketing `derivatives' of copyrighted video games without the express consent of the game's owner,'' Howard Lincoln, Nintendo's senior vice president, said in a news release announcing the suit.

Galoob introduced Game Genie on May 8 and sued Nintendo on May 17 after Nintendo notified Galoob of its claim of copyright infringement. Galoob's suit seeks a court declaration that Game Genie does not infringe Nintendo copyrights.

Nintendo filed its lawsuit after deciding to reject a proposal that Nintendo give Galoob a license to market Game Genie, Nintendo said.

Lincoln likened Game Genie to ``speed-up kits'' introduced for the popular arcade game Pacman several years ago. Courts found such kits to be unauthorized derivative works of the original Pacman game and enjoined their sale.

However, Steven Klein, executive vice president and general counsel at Galoob, rejected any comparisons with the Pacman situation. He said Game Genie is for use in private homes, while the Pacman speed-up kits were designed for use in public video arcades.

``Home owners can modify games. Selling them a product that allows them to do that is not illegal,'' he said. ``Nintendo has conveniently ignored provisions of the copyright act that allows a product like this to be sold.''

Lincoln said Game Genie allows Nintendo games to be mastered without any skill.

``We cannot stand by while the essence of our business - the creation of ever more challenging video games - is put at risk by the Game Genie product,'' he said.

Klein did not dispute that Game Genie allows success with Nintendo games without requiring skill, but denied it would be detrimental to Nintendo.

``Nintendo believes anything that interferes with their monopoly is a threat to their business,'' he said.