Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., better known as ShoPro, is reportedly filing The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices to take down social media posts related to leaked Pokémon art and documents. Several posts on a leaker account, CentroLeaks on X, have been replaced with a notice saying the image has been taken down due to a request from the copyright holder. According to CentroLeaks, the DMCA requests were filed by ShoPro, which is in charge of Nintendo’s anime shows and movies and Japan’s Pokémon merchandise, not Nintendo or The Pokémon Company.
Polygon has reached out to The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and ShoPro for more information. Game Freak’s only comment, thus far, was a statement published to its website on Oct. 10, before the leaks were published; in the statement, it confirmed it had a breach that included 2,600 items of personal data.
Beyond the DMCA notices, which would take accounts offline if they’re given enough strikes, leaks like these almost never go well for the hackers involved; Nintendo is particularly sensitive about its intellectual property. In 2021, The Pokémon Company settled with two people who leaked photos of the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield strategy guides before the game was released, ordering them to pay $150,000 each in damages and fees. Gary Bowser, an alleged Nintendo Switch hack seller, was sent to prison for his reported involvement in a hack selling ring — and he still owes the company millions.
