Microsoft-owned GitHub has removed over 8,500 code repositories Nintendo alleges violate the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) because they are copies or spinoffs of the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu.
"The submitter alleged that all or most of the forks were infringing to the same extent as the parent repository," GitHub writes in a note attached to a copy of Nintendo's DMCA takedown request form, which contains some redacted information. "GitHub processed the takedown notice against the entire network of 8,535 repositories, inclusive of the parent repository."
In its complaint, Nintendo reiterates the same issues it had with Yuzu. "Yuzu illegally circumvents Nintendo's technological protection measures and runs illegal copies of Nintendo Switch games," the publisher alleged.
Like with Suyu, another Yuzu emulator Nintendo pulled from GitLab back in March, Nintendo cites Section 1201 of the DMCA as the reason for its mass GitHub takedown. Section 1201 states that any technology "primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure" that "effectively controls access to a work" that is considered protected under the DMCA violates the law and thus cannot be hosted or shared online.
GitHub's notice states that it gave the creators of the removed Yuzu spinoffs the chance to alter their files, offered legal resources, and reminded them how to submit a DMCA takedown appeal.
It's unclear whether any of that would help, however. Earlier this year, Nintendo sued Yuzu and the emulator's team quickly folded, agreeing to pay $2.4 million and deleting their GitHub code repositories. Yuzu's original developers also claimed back in March that their emulator "led to extensive piracy," something they said was never intended.
"In particular, we have been deeply disappointed when users have used our software to leak game content prior to its release and ruin the experience for legitimate purchasers and fans," the Yuzu team writes in one of its few archived GitHub files remaining on the site.