A Japanese court has fined the Japanese karting company Mari Mobility of € 416,000 for violating Nintendo copyright. That writes Nintendo Wednesday. The karting company offered Mario Kart races in Tokyo.
Customers were able to rent costumes at the company and show off as Mario, Luigi and Yoshi, among others. In this way, they were able to drive as a favorite Mario Kart character through the capital of Japan.
In 2017, Nintendo sued the company Mari Mobility, which at the time was still operating under the Marikart name, for a violation of the copyright. The judge then imposed a fine of 10 million yen on the company (about 83,000 euros), writes Polygon. The company appealed, but to no avail. The fine imposed on Mari Mobility on Wednesday is five times as high as the previous fine.
Nintendo writes on the website to continue taking action against companies that infringe Nintendo copyright law, “to protect what has been built up with great difficulty and over many years”.
Mari Mobility has now taken a different path. On the website The company shows that customers can now race across the streets of Tokyo dressed as superheroes. It is explicitly stated that no costumes of Mario Kart characters can be rented. “It is in no way a reflection of the Nintendo game Mario Kart“said the company.
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