Game Genie Defeats Nintendo Lawsuit

In 1990, Nintendo sued American toy company Galoob to block the U.S. release of the Game Genie, a Codemasters device that let NES players alter games with cheat codes. Nintendo argued that the device created unauthorized derivative versions of its games, and the dispute temporarily stopped American sales while Canadian sales continued. The courts ultimately ruled that the Game Genie created no permanent derivative work and had no negative impact on Nintendo's game sales, leaving Nintendo unable to prevent its release. By contrast, Sega officially approved and licensed the Genesis version after Codemasters privately warned that another lawsuit could "open the floodgates."

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