Selling Repro Nintendo games legally?
I keep seeing people who professionally sell repro Nintendo games from China. EBay is full of them, and there are always dealers or private individuals who sell these games on eBay classifieds. Is that even legal? I honestly can't imagine that. This is actually a copyright infringement. When you reproduce games in China and then sell them here without a license. Some don't even write that they're not original games.
If it's not officially Nintendo and produced without permission, it's illegal
If the games are not stolen, the resale is tax-free because the taxes have already been paid for them.
And nothing can get from China to Germany that easily without customs having a hand in it.
Private individuals can also resell legally purchased games. Whether private or commercial is up to the seller.
There are hundreds of game manufacturers that are not designed by Nintendo but designed for Nintendo. Nintendo only gets a kind of fee.
However, these games do not have a license. They are simply plagiarisms of the original games. Which are cheaply made in China. Some of them even have the Nintendo logo on it.
Well, what does stolen mean, they're just fake. There are just games that sometimes have Nintendo on it, but no Nintendo is inside. Instead, a cheap circuit board produced in China in a cheap housing, which works in a normal Gameboy.
Kind of like if, for example, Peter Maffay now brings out a CD, and I would copy this CD with the cover and all the trimmings and then sell it. Except that they don't just copy CDs, they just keep these game cassettes for the Gameboy.
But maybe Nintendo doesn't care anymore because they're old games.
As far as customs are concerned, I myself know from a customs officer that many things in Eastern Europe end up there, then go through customs and then come to Germany via the European Union and the Schengen area.
Unless the Chinese have bought a collection license to produce these games. That would of course also be a possibility. But I can't imagine that when a game is sold for three euro.
And nothing can get from China to Germany that easily without customs having a hand in it.
Oh no? Only you believe that. It doesn't even have to come directly from China. For example, it can come from China to Holland, and from Holland to Germany. And already there's not so much with customs, as there are hardly any controls within the EU.
Private individuals can also resell legally purchased games. Whether private or commercial is up to the seller.
A "legally" bought plagiarism is still a plagiarism and may not be resold. At least not commercially.
Some don't even write that they're not original games.
That will be one of the main problems, among other things. It is not evident to eBay and Co. That it is plagiarism, which is why nothing is deleted.
In addition, Nintendo must of course also demand that such advertisements be deleted. EBay will rarely delete something on its own. Because eBay also earns money by trading plagiarism.
In addition, there's often the problem that the dealers are not domiciled in Germany, which is why you can't get hold of them.
So the fight against plagiarism is unfortunately not that easy.
Dangerously wrong. If you offer a purchased plagiarism and get caught doing it, it's your turn. 100%.
Yes, maybe even today Nintendo is no longer so interested in it because they no longer sell players of this kind themselves 🤷♂️. In itself it is also good if you can still get cheap games for the Gameboy while the originals are sometimes very expensive. But it's just stupid if you pay the original price and then get such a cheap module. If it is declared that it is a reproduction, that would be ok.
The problem with eBay is that eBay doesn't seem to care. In China itself, everything (l) doesn't matter, as long as only foreigners are harmed. If there's therefore an international fraud plan, the seat in China is 100% safe.
Nike, Nintendo etc. Could, however, protect their trademark rights on eBay - but they would have to do that themselves. Then it just takes a wink and the offer is gone.
There are lawyers who represent the brands and do exactly that, but they don't concern the Chinese because they don't pay anyway.
They will concern you if you adjust something, you are very tangible.
Apparently, Nintendo doesn't seem to care. Maybe because they don't make any more money with those old games, they don't care. They don't produce anything of it anymore. If the games are declared as reproductions, then I think that's okay too. But some don't do that.
That has nothing to do with it. They have the naming rights. No matter how old they are.
I know. I mean, because it might make the need less.
