Nintendo takes down NES artbook Kickstarter campaign

Platform holder Nintendo has shut down a Kickstarter campaign, claiming it made an unauthorised use of Nintendo’s copyrights.”

The campaign aimed at funding a NES artbook launched by specialist publisher Bitmap Books. The NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium Kickstarter projectwas only 24 hours from ending – and had already successfully raised over $100,000.

A legal notice has now replaced the page, claiming that the project was giving the impression that it was backed by Nintendo:

The description of the book states that it is mainly visual”, and the campaign shows pages of the book which consist simply of large screenshots copied directly from Nintendo’s video games. This campaign also makes use of a mark that is confusingly similar to registered trademarks owned by Nintendo. (…) This use of Nintendo’s intellectual property may confuse Kickstarter backers into thinking this project is sponsored or licensed by Nintendo, when in fact it is not.

Bitmap previously has released similar books about the Commodore 64, Amiga, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, as well as the influence of the Commodore 64 on Sweden.