Dolphin Steam Release Postponed, But What Exactly Happened? No DMCA

gameranx.com:

Dolphin has recently revealed that its Gamecube and Wii emulator has been indefinitely postponed from release on Steam, after listing. However, reports that this came from a Nintendo DMCA are incorrect. So what actually happened?

It all starts with an update from the Dolphin blog. On the 27th, they stated:

“It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed.

We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin’s Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future.”

However, PC Gamer acquired a legal opinion on the matter, and confirmed with Atty Kellen Voyer that the letter Nintendo sent was not a DMCA. In Kellen’s words:

“I would characterize this NOT as a DMCA take down notice and instead as a warning shot that the software, Dolphin, if released on Steam would (in Nintendo’s view) violate the DMCA.”

So, what exactly happened here? We will refer to the explanation from one Pierre Bourdon over on his own Mastodon instance. Pierre is an outgoing member of the Dolphin team who also got to read the letter, and demonstrates an understanding of the issues firsthand.

To quote Pierre’s TLDR:

“1. Valve legal contacted Nintendo of America to ask “hey, what do you think about Dolphin?”

2. Nintendo replied to Valve “we think it’s bad and also that it violates the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions” (note: nothing about violating copyright itself). Also “please take it down”.

3. Valve legal takes it down and forwards NoA’s reply to the Dolphin Foundation contact address.”

So Nintendo did not