Castle Rock man sued by Nintendo, accused of pirating, sharing unreleased Nintendo games to followers

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — For every alleged copyright violation documented by Nintendo, a streamer may be on the hook to pay more than $7 million after a lawsuit has been filed against him for copyright violations. 

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 6 in Colorado’s U.S. District Court and names Jesse Keighin of Castle Rock as a defendant. 

Keighin uses the online name “everygameguru,” and until recently, had thousands of subscribers on multiple streaming platforms. 

“Starting in as early as 2022, Defendant has streamed unauthorized gameplay of at least ten of Nintendo’s leaked games before their publication, and more than fifty times in total,” the lawsuit filed by Nintendo of America reads. 

The lawsuit says Nintendo has repeatedly sent dozens of takedown notices to Keighin who continues to stream despite his main streaming channels on YouTube and Twitch being shut down for copyright claims.

”Despite these immense efforts by Nintendo to enforce its rights short of litigation, Defendant continues to unlawfully stream Nintendo’s copyrighted works and thumb his nose at Nintendo and the law.”  

The suit seeks $150,000 per violation, which could mean a court could find Keighin liable for $7.5 million for the alleged 50 violations the lawsuit references. 

At one point, according to the lawsuit, Keighin wrote back to Nintendo saying “I have a thousand burner channels” and “We can do this all day.” 

“This reminds me a lot of Napster, when the music industry went after kids in college dorms,” said Dr. Chris Jennings who teaches copyright issues to media students and Metropolitan State University. 

Jennings pointed out video game companies like Nintendo don’t take issue with streamers sharing current games on their channels, but that sharing unreleased games are serious copyright violations. 

“Basically, stealing the thunder, stealing the marketing, stealing the anticipation,” Jennings said. 

“There’s a certain element of money made with excitement, and they’re claiming that some of the ability to make money off those can be lost on potential buyers,” Jennings said of Nintendo’s claims. 

9NEWS reached out to Keighin during a live stream in which he said he wasn’t served with the lawsuit yet. He texted the author of this article declining an interview until he could speak to copyright attorneys. 

“…but my plan is to file for bankruptcy and/or let them get a default judgment to avoid this setting any precedent for emulation, streaming, etc.,” Keighin added over text message. 

A spokesperson for Nintendo sent 9NEWS the following statement over email. 

“We can confirm that we filed a lawsuit against an individual who has engaged and continues to engage in clear infringement of Nintendo’s IP rights, as well as violations of our Game Content Guidelines. Nintendo is passionate about protecting the creative works of game developers and publishers who expend significant time and effort to create experiences that bring smiles to all.” 

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