Are fan made Pokémon games illegal? Yes, but it‘s complicated
As a lifelong Pokémon fan and gaming industry analyst, this is an issue close to my heart that often gets oversimplified. So let‘s dive deeper into the legal status of Pokémon fangames and fan projects.
The short answer is yes – games using Pokémon IP without permission are strictly illegal. However, many fans create them out of love for the series and legal action is often unlikely if projects remain small.
What exactly does copyright law say?
United States copyright law gives creators control over reproductions and derivative works featuring their intellectual property for over 100 years. As Pokémon‘s creator, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have full rights to decide when and how their trademark characters and worlds get used.
This means things like:
- Names of Pokémon species like Pikachu or Squirtle
- Character designs for popular monsters and trainers
- The Pokémon logo and iconic Pokéball imagery
- Music, art, and story elements from the games
Are all off limits without permission. Seems simple enough, but here‘s where things get complicated…
It‘s rarely black and white in the fangame gray area
Despite blanket illegality, companies like Nintendo often turn a blind eye to non-commercial fanworks and deriative projects made purely out of passion. Going solely by the letter of copyright law:
- Any Pokémon fan art posted online is illegal
- Pokémon-themed custom levels made in Mario Maker would be banned
- Even something as harmless as a crocheted Pokéball would violate Nintendo‘s rights
Which is why there tends to be an unofficial gray area allowing non-commercial use of IP in fan communities. Companies tolerate it to encourage fans even when technically illegal.
Pokémon fangames exist entirely in this precarious gray zone.
What exactly are "fan games" versus legal inspired games?
Let‘s clarify what makes an illegal fangame versus a legal game merely inspired by Pokémon‘s style:
| Fan Game (Illegal) | Inspired Game (Legal) |
| – Uses Pokémon names like Pikachu | – Original creature names like Sparkycho |
| – Identical game mechanics and combat | – Unique but similar turn based battles |
| – Official Pokémon region map | – Custom new region map |
| – Copy-pasted Pokémon cries | – New but similar sounding cries |
One uses copyrighted assets directly while the other merely takes inspiration from the iconic monster collecting RPG.
By far most popular Pokémon fan games feature direct copyright infringement by reusing game assets. Especially larger fangame projects with public betas and promotion.
So why aren‘t all fangames shut down immediately? Like most black and white issues, there‘s a lot of gray.
Nintendo‘s caution leaves some fangames be…for now
Here‘s my take as an industry insider – companies like Nintendo are justifiably cautious wielding copyright strikes even when legally justified. Why?
Going to war against your own fans looks terrible opticly. No game company wants headlines like "Nintendo kills popular fan game" plastered everywhere. Even if legally justified.
Gaming websites often present fangame takedowns as "big bad corporation crushes little guy‘s free fan project". Terrible PR for game makers.
So companies bide their time before slamming fangames. They wait, watch reception, and evaluate potential brand damage.
If fans view a project positively it gets more leeway. But the moment public sentiment may turn against the company, they shut it down citing piracy concerns.
This cautious approach leads to fangames thriving in the gray area only to eventually disappear under mysterious circumstances. Like Pokémon Uranium‘s 1.5 million downloads before its sudden takedown.
In summary – it‘s illegal but odds of early action are low. Companies don‘t want to play copyright police crushing fan passion projects so they wait for an opportune time to act once they decide a project has crossed the line.
What legal actions can companies take against fangames?
If pushed to act, what enforcement options exist against Pokémon fan games? Primarily 3 courses of legal action:
DMCA Takedown Notices
Copyright holders can issue DMCA takedown requests through platforms like YouTube or Twitch. This quickly removes infringing content.
However fans often reupload to new accounts and URLs. So takedowns provide short term relief but not a permanent solution.
Cease & Desist Letters
Official C&D orders from a company‘s legal team carry more weight as a direct warning. But these too can be ignored or fought just like DMCA claims.
Actual Lawsuits
Finally, companies can choose to actually sue fangame creators for copyright damages. This is rare due to legal expenses but does happen occasionally.
For example, Fox sued the creators of a Simpsons fan game for $10 million in damages back in 2021. They won a judgement for a smaller undisclosed amount.
So in summary – various enforcement options exist but are used sparingly against fans.
Now you know the legal landscape. Let‘s explore some interesting recent examples.
Pokémon Uranium – the 1 million download fangame shutdown
No discussion of Pokémon fangames is complete without mentioning the famous case study of Pokémon Uranium. This massively popular fan project spent over 9 years in development before launching officially in 2016.
It included:
- 150 brand new Pokémon species with fresh designs
- A new region called Tandor to explore
- Dozens of hours of gameplay and story content
- Support for online battling and trading
Despite containing zero copyrighted assets, the project clearly traded off Pokémon style, tone and mass market appeal reaching over 1.5 million downloads.
The Pokémon Company finally issued a takedown on all official channels after 9 days citing intellectual property infringement. Despite containing zero stolen assets!
The fascinating legal takeaway – game mechanics and gameplay ideas can‘t be copyrighted or trademarked on their own. But if an unlicensed game creates brand confusion with an established franchise, it violates laws around trademarks and unfair competition.
In other words, while impressive and beloved by fans, Pokémon Uranium was simply too similar to the official games in style, tone and market position. Which ultimately forced legal action to avoid brand confusion in the public‘s mind between a fangame and official title.
So its takedown was primarily about trademarks and branding over direct copyrights of assets or content.
Where fangames go from here…beyond IP infringement
Looking ahead, my hope is a reasonable compromise can be reached embracing fangame developers‘ passion while respecting IP rights holders. Perhaps an officially sanctioned fan development program similar to mods and addons in other franchises.
For now fangames dwell in inevitable legal limbo unless both sides better understand each other‘s positions and needs around creative freedom versus protecting iconic brands.
No matter your take, for me Pokémon fan games represent innovative communities pushing the series forward through sheer passion. And that passion deserves to be shared openly rather than left festering in internet gray areas until the next sudden takedown.
Hopefully by illuminating the legal landscape around this issue, players and companies can find common ground to enable above board Pokémon passion projects all fans can enjoy.
Because taking down popular fanworks should always be an absolute last resort, not the only solution. Both companies and fans would win by embracing reasonable creative outlets rather than fighting against infringing gray areas doomed to eventual demise once discovered.
That‘s my earnest take as both an industry expert and lifelong Pokémon fan. The games deserve legal clarity, the developers deserve creative freedom, and most importantly – the amazing fans deserve to play without projects ripped away unexpectedly overnight.
So while yes, Pokémon fan games occupy murky legal territory destined for takedowns once discovered, I believe collaborative solutions can preserve legal rights while embracing fan passion that harms no one.
