🚀 go-pugleaf

   By Kenneth Kidd, Toronto Globe and Mail [excerpted without comment - BS]

By an hypothetical journalist someday [created as comment - BS]

   A suburban Toronto company's gadget used to alter the Super Mario
   video game infringes on Nintendo's copyright and the "moral rights"
   of Super Mario's Japanese creator, says Nintendo of America Inc.

A California company's gadget used to alter the Mustang automobile
infringes on Ford's design copyright and the "moral rights" of
Mustang's Detroit creators, says Ford Motor Company Inc.

   Instead of enhancing the game, the Game Genie sold by Camerica
   Corp.  of Unionville, Ontario, simply makes the video amusement
   easier to play, Nintendo maintains.

Instead of enhancing the automobile, the Adjustable Shock Absorber
sold by Fred's Fast Fords Inc. of Laguna Beach, California, simply
makes the automobile easier to drive fast around corners and over
uneven roads.

   "What's at stake is the integrity of the video game market," Penman
   said last week.

"What's at stake is the integrity of the automobile market," Ford
lawyers said last week.

   "What they want to do is put Genie back in the bottle -- theirs,"
   countered David Harding, president of Camerica.

"They want to ensure that they are sole suppliers to the Mustang
performance option market," countered Fred Farlingsworth, president of
Fred's Fast Fords.

   The Game Genie ... allows players to pick three special features
   ...  as variations on the basic Super Mario games sold by Nintendo.

The Adjustable Shock Absorber ... allows drivers to pick three
different stiffnesses, depending upon their anticipated driving
conditions ... as variations on the basic Mustang handling style.

   The altering device, for which Camerica has world rights, is a
   cartridge that attaches to the Nintendo cartridge.  The mated
   cartridges are then inserted into the Nintendo game terminal.  The
   game's action proceeds as usual, except for the alterations
   requested.

The altering device, for which Fred's has world rights, is a set of
four steel tubes that expand and contract in response to the
automobile's movement over the roads.  They are designed to be
installed on any Mustang by anyone who is able to wrap a paw around a
7/16" box wrench.  The automobile drives as usual, except for the
alterations requested.

   Because the Game Genie can let Mario overcome [game] foes more
   easily, Harding said disabled or less dextrous people can enjoy a
   video game they otherwise couldn't play.

Because the Adjustable Shock Absorber can enable the Mustang to
maneuver around corners more easily, Fred said that even people with
automatic transmissions can enjoy improved handling from their
automobiles.

   Nintendo of America says the Game Genie infringes on Nintendo's
   copyright and trademark.

Ford Motor Company says the Adjustable Shock Absorber infringes on
Ford's copyright and trademark.

   The game altering ability of the Camerica device also infringes on
   "the moral rights to the integrity of the literary, dramatic and
   artistic works in the Mario games in Canada."  Those rights,
   according to Nintendo's statement of claim, are held by Super
   Mario's inventor, Shigeru, Miyamoto.

The ride altering capability of the Fred's device also infringes "the
moral rights to the integrity of the speed, braking, and handling
style of Mustangs in the U.S.A."  Those rights, according to FOrd's
statement of claim, are held by the people who kicked Lee Iacocca out
of the company.

   For now, Harding's gadget isn't available here.  In June, the U.S.
   District Court in California granted Nintendo's request for a
   temporary injunction against Game Genie's U.S. distributor.

For now, Fred's gadget isn't available anywhere.  All the auto parts
suppliers and distributors were too afraid of Ford's lawyers to
provide the Adjustable Shock Absorber to an eager public, weary of
Ford's mushy steering and lack of road feel.  So Ford Motor Company's
formerly-loyal customers have begun buying cars that already handle
well enough without aftermarket modifications.