By Sagar Mankar 
The cat-and-mouse game between Nintendo and emulator developers continues.
Recently, GitLab received a DMCA takedown notice targeting the Nintendo Switch emulator Suyu.
As a result, GitLab disabled the accounts of Suyu’s developers and cut off access to the emulator’s code.
What is Suyu and Why Was It Targeted?
Suyu was a fork, or modified version, of the popular Yuzu emulator for the Nintendo Switch.
Yuzu previously faced legal action from Nintendo for allegedly violating the DMCA by circumventing the company’s technical protection measures.
However, the recent takedown of Suyu on GitLab wasn’t directly initiated by Nintendo.
According to The Verge, someone else used Nintendo’s previous Yuzu lawsuit to target Suyu.
The Mysterious DMCA Takedown Request
According to GitLab, they received a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice from an unknown “representative of the rightsholder.”
This led them to disable the Suyu project and the accounts of its developers.
But here’s where things get dark.
The takedown request cites alleged violations of DMCA 1201, which covers circumvention of technical protection measures, rather than the more common DMCA 512 for copyright infringement.
Note:
- DMCA Section 512 – This covers the typical DMCA takedown notices for copyright infringement. It lays out the process for copyright holders to request the removal of infringing content from websites/platforms.
- DMCA Section 1201 – This section doesn’t deal with copyright infringement itself, but rather prohibits the “circumvention of technological measures” that protect copyrighted works. This includes things like bypassing encryption, accessing content through methods not authorized by the copyright owner, etc.
Was the Takedown Request Even Valid?
Legal experts have raised doubts about the validity of the takedown request.
A proper DMCA notice should identify the specific copyrighted work being infringed upon, which this request seemingly fails to do.
Additionally, Suyu’s developers claim their emulator doesn’t include the same circumvention measures that got Yuzu in trouble.
GitLab’s Stance and Suyu’s Future
Regardless of the request’s validity, GitLab likely chose to comply to avoid potential legal battles, even if the threat was questionable.
Platforms like GitLab can ultimately host or remove content at their discretion.
As for Suyu, its leader has already stated intentions to re-host the code elsewhere.
Within an hour of the takedown, the repository had been cloned to git.suyu.dev, keeping the emulator alive, at least for now.
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