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Nintendo has secured a final default judgment against Jesse Keighin, aka ‘EveryGameGuru’. The gaming giant sued Keighin in 2024 after he streamed pirated copies of pre-release games. In correspondence with Nintendo’s legal team, Keighin was initially defiant, but failed to defend the case against him. A Colorado federal court has now ordered the streamer to pay $17,500 in damages but refused to issue an injunction against unnamed “third parties” or order the “destruction” of circumvention devices.
Filing lawsuits against casual gamers who may have made an isolated mistake is not a good look and could potentially backfire. Nintendo understands that and carefully picks its battles.
The case against Jesse Keighin, better known under his gaming handle “EveryGameGuru” exemplifies this approach. Filed in a Colorado federal court last November, Nintendo’s complaint lists many alleged wrongdoings, including pre-release game streaming using pirated ROMs and distribution of circumvention tools.
“I Run The Streets”
Defending a lawsuit filed by a multi-billion dollar company can be a frightening prospect but based on messages posted online, the defendant seemed undeterred.
Instead of trying to avoid a legal disaster, Keighin apparently went on the offensive, showing no signs of giving in. Quite the contrary.
“You might run a corporation. I run the streets,” Keighin wrote in a Facebook post addressing Nintendo’s legal team. They should have done more research before taking him on, the gamer wrote.
The defendant reportedly destroyed evidence and evaded Nintendo’s attempts to serve him personally. Due to these complications, the court eventually allowed service via email and the home addresses of his mother, grandmother, and partner.
Nintendo Requests Default Judgment
Despite his defiant stance, Keighin did not respond to Nintendo’s allegations so the company requested a default judgment to continue the case without him.
The gaming giant requested $17,500 in damages for copyright infringement, including streaming pre-release games and sharing links to emulators. This was a relatively modest request, as potential maximum damages could have easily exceeded $1 million.
In addition to the modest monetary damages, Nintendo also requested a broad permanent injunction to restrain the defendant from any infringing activities going forward, including the use of emulators such as Yuzu or Ryujinx.
Nintendo said the injunction should apply to third parties working in concert with the defendant and require all infringing hardware and software to be destroyed.
Court Hands Nintendo the Final Win
In early October, Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak recommended granting Nintendo its requested $17,500 in damages and an order enjoining Keighin from future infringement.
At the same time, the Magistrate wrote that two of Nintendo’s broader requests should be denied. The demand to “destroy all circumvention devices” was rejected as “unclear” and “unreasonable,” as the tools in question are mainly software applications available online.
The request to apply the injunction to “third parties” working in concert with Keighin should also be denied as Nintendo did not specify any third parties who worked with the defendant.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher formally adopted this recommendation, effectively handing Nintendo the win.
The Judge’s order notes that, since no party filed objections, a full de novo review was not required. After finding ‘no clear error’ in the recommendation, Judge Gallagher adopted it in full. This means that the damages award and the partially granted injunction are now final.
While this is likely not the outcome Keighin had hoped for, without putting up a defense, it was mostly a lost case from the start.
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A copy of Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak’s recommendation is available here (pdf) and U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher’s final judgment can be found here (pdf).
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