Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., better known as ShoPro, is reportedly filing notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to remove social media posts regarding leaked Pokémon artwork and documents. Several posts on a leaking account, CentroLeaks on Xhave been replaced with a notice stating that the photo has been removed at the request of the copyright owner. According to CentroLeaksthe DMCA requests were filed by ShoPro, the company responsible for Nintendo anime shows and movies and Japanese Pokémon merchandise, and not Nintendo or The Pokémon Company.
For more information, Polygon reached out to The Pokémon Company, Game Freak and ShoPro. Game Freak’s only comment so far was a statement posted on its website on October 10, before the leaks were published; in a statement, it confirmed that there had been a breach involving 2,600 pieces of personal data.
Aside from DMCA notices that disable accounts if there are enough warnings, such leaks almost never end well for the hackers involved; Nintendo attaches particular importance to its intellectual property. In 2021, The Pokémon Company reached an agreement with two people who leaked the photos Pokémon sword AND Pokémon Shield strategic before the game’s release, ordering them to pay $150,000 each in damages and fees. Gary Bowser, an alleged Nintendo Switch hack seller, was sent to prison for his reported involvement in a hack-selling ring – and yet he still owes the company millions.
