i definitely hope that nintendo does something about this that’s a bit more effective than their numerous attempts to patch glitches lmao. i believe people can spend their money on whatever they want but i definitely don’t understand people spending so much money on in-game currencies, items and villagers - i get the same thing could be argued about mobile game expansion packs or what not, but almost $100 for a bunch of pixels? goodbye
Nintendo confirms selling Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers for real money is against terms of service
- Thread starter New Horizons lover
- Start date
Buying and reselling amiibo cards is no different than buying or reselling a book or DVD, which is a long-established right customers have with physical media. Selling the physical cards is 100% legal. The only issue you could face is that any copies you make of something while you own the physical copy of media (say you ripped mp3s of a CD you owned to play on an iPod back when that was a thing you did) you’re supposed to delete/destroy those copies if you sell the physical original. So you can backup an amiibo’s data as long as you have the card but would need to get rid of the copy once you sold it.
Selling a villager is more like bit torrenting a movie, or even more so, like selling someone access to a movie you bit torrented.
Selling a villager is more like bit torrenting a movie, or even more so, like selling someone access to a movie you bit torrented.
Shellzilla_515
Senior Member
Nintendo, if you want to solve most of these problems where people sell their villagers for ridiculous amounts of money, why not, I don't know, reissue amiibo cards for people to buy? I'm pretty sure everyone will get something out of it. We can potentially get villagers that we want all while you folks over at Nintendo will get profit out of it. There are so many things that make me question their actions that only make things more complicated. As for the terms of service thing, I'm curious on how they're going to enforce it and how harsh the penalties are, let alone trying to track down the people going against it.
Quite different.
Amiibo cards are collectible items as well.
I love collecting them, for one. So it's not the same.
When someone is selling in-game villagers, they're essentially selling you code and keeping all the money for an "item" they don't own the rights to for themselves.
With the hand-made amiibo cards, it's kind of like selling pirated DVD's/CD's. While I know that some people personalize them, add their own unique art, etc., if you were to burn your own DVD copies and then add unique packaging to them and sell them at a profit, do you think that would make it okay?
While I have definitely downloaded movies and songs off of the Internet, I would have never thought of selling them.
I have shared them with friends - sure - but making money?
I mean I don't want to judge too harshly but if you're aware of piracy laws then you probably know the answer.
I know people also make custom plushies/sculptures/paintings, etc. and this is where it gets a bit tricky for me. Because, potentially, Nintendo could also step in and say that this is wrong. I think because they're such a big and prosperous company with some of the most recognizable and iconic video game characters (Mario) the lines get a bit blurred here.
But imagine if people started selling art of some Indie game characters at a profit - I could imagine some of the game devs not being too happy.
This would open a can of worms. Disney has gone after educational institute for playing their movies in their school setting. The media that contain the content was paid for but because of the volume and location Disney believe they are entitled to certain amount of royalty for displaying their IP for the showing.
I would also recommend doing a quick search for Eric Lundgren. His sentence was for the usage of the microsoft logo but not the window content.
Technically selling fanart and fan items isn't legal either considering Nintendo owns the characters and people are selling art of characters they don't own. I love fanart though and purchase it but we also must realize this too.
Yupp...
I just think that because they're a big company they don't bother going after artists, etc.
After all, in a way they are inadvertently advertising their games and characters by creating art of them.
But I know that, for example, the creators of Undertale said that they don't wish their characters portrayed by other artists.
So yeah... It's a bit of a tricky one.
I do love the art made though and was even thinking of commissioning a custom-made plushie of Zucker by someone on Etsy.
Once you're getting into custom plushies, sculptures, and other fan art, you've veered from copyright (which covers the code on the amiibo) and into trademark.
Disney is infamously zealous about protecting their trademark, and even before they bought Fox, Fox went after people who made and sold Jayne hats or even knitting patterns for trademarks. (The patterns are still out there, they just have names like "Sci Fi Hat.") The Olympics also went after knitters, crocheters, and spinners (as in spinning yarn) who were hosting an event during the Olympics called the Ravlympics where people knit in "challenges" as they watched. The IOC claimed it violated their trademark and now the event is called the Ravellenic Games.
Big companies like Disney and Nintendo can afford lawyers who can go after copyright and trademark violations, and can also abuse the DMCA to issue ceases and desists for things that aren't copyright violations. Indie game companies can't usually afford that kind of thing. Companies do need to defend their trademarks or else they lose trademark status and anyone can use them.
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I'm not really following what you mean by "opening a can of worms." What would be? Selling amiibo cards?
Yes, Disney is very litigious. Different licenses need to be purchased to screen movies in front of audiences than are needed for home viewing. A VHS or DVD or digital purchase via Amazon or iTunes only allows for home viewing (and now that cables are digital, they can block copyrighted content from being streamed on projectors, as I learned when I legally purchased an Adventure Time episode to play a clip for a presentation in grad school (legally allowed under US copyright law as fair use) and tested it before class and it wouldn't play.
Using the Microsoft logo would fall under trademark law, not copyright law. Amiibo code is copyrighted, not trademarked. The word amiibo is trademarked, as is the amiibo "a" logo. The art on amiibo cards is copyrighted.
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Oh yeah, despite what I said, I'm super happy Fan creations exist. After all, there wouldn't be as much merch out there without them! There are official merch of things but some shows/video games there aren't so fans rely on fans.
Amiibo cards are different. The villagers are apart of the software, and Nintendo did not intend for you to use their software to generate income. Amiibos are physical objects, and collectibles.
Oh, I don't doubt at all that they could hire lawyers to go after people who make fan art of their characters - I just don't think that Nintendo has done so (correct me if I'm wrong). I see some people that actually get sent free stuff by Nintendo make fan art of various Nintendo characters and it doesn't seem that they have a problem with it.
I just mentioned the creators of Undertale because I specifically remember them releasing a statement in regards to their characters.
However; I'm also a big supporter of the gaming company Amanita Design (makers of Samorost and Machinarium). They're an indie gaming company and they've held fan art competitions before.
Laika, the animation studio behind Coraline, also had a fan art competition for their Instagram followers.
All companies are different.
i just find it interesting that nothing's being done for the homemade amiibos. like i used to see legitimate animal crossing amiibo cards being sold on Amazon before acnh was announced but i was curious to see if i could get any now and i just get listings for NFC cards and homemade cards for amiibo figures. i feel like this would be illegal too since ur supposed to buy those products to have access to it, but now ppl r just making them for free and selling them to ppl who dont have access to that; its not like they bought the amiibo figure and sold it to someone else which would be fine.
I feel like the homemade amiibos and NFC cards may end up making older amiibo cards obsolete as anything but collectibles as Nintendo updates them in a fashion which people can’t “spoof” them. I hope I’m wrong though. I never bought a fake or tried to dupe one but the two amiibo cards I ever bought were cheap from being unpopular villagers. Would I be more likely to for the more popular villagers? Absolutely. Do I begrudge people who do it? Absolutely not. It’s smart.
stitchmaker
Senior Member
Amiibo cards were made for a 3DS game called Happy Home Designer. Series 1 sold out fast and were hard to get. Nintendo NA mistake was releasing Series 2 top early and not having a complete set when you bought a box. Japan and Eu sold a box that completed your collection with some repeats. A lot of NA customers were still collecting Series 1. By the time Series 3 rolled around stores got tired of the cards taking up space and customers stealing them. Most stores started selling them online only. The summer before the ACNL update stores in the US had them on sale to get rid of them. A lot of customers stopped playing the game or didn't have the funds to buy cards.
Nintendo mistake was waiting to release the ACNL update. When the cards sells slowed down Nintendo should have release the game.
It's not just Ebay selling the villagers/items for high prices. I was looking at the local online site and full golden tools including the golden watering can were listed for sell for ACNH. Bells/golden tools and Sanrio Sets for ACNL were sold on sites and Nintendo did nothing.
@stitchmaker im not rly sure why u replied this to me ?-? i knew this stuff but i dont see anything in what i originally said that would warrant this type of reply
*The Oakboro Mayor*
♡ sort of active
Honestly, I think we saw this one coming. Selling any villagers, no matter what, probably shouldn't be allowed for personal profit. Especially those who hack to get him (I'm looking at you, twitter). I'm actually a bit... relieved to hear that Nintendo said something because that means that they have seen the situation and declared it wrong. Amiibos are different though because it's not like anyone scanned in the villager to sell. Some people work hard to make some homemade cards, and I think that's nice that they try and do that for others. But that's just my hot take on the whole situation!
I hope it's only limited to the villagers... I'm selling fossils on ebay for real money (but super cheap, $2 per fossil but also I include 5 NMT) because I'm desperate for even a couple of dollars for food and water. I'd never sell a villager for real money, though. I couldn't.
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