Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The answer might be the legality of using copyright to block functionalities, the link describes how Accolade challenged SEGA on those grounds a few years later and succeeded:

"The legality of this system was challenged in the United States by Accolade in the court case SEGA vs. Accolade, which ruled in Accolade's favor. The verdict set a precedent that copyrights do not extend to non-expressive content in software that is required by another system to be present in order for that system to run the software."

In case of Nintendo, it sounds like a unlicensed cartridge still had a choice to work on the Gameboy and NOT infringe the Nintendo trademark. But if it decided to show the Nintendo logo on bootup, it explicitly infringed on copyright...



Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: