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Early American Donkey Kong arcade machines used US Set 1 and the game title had "1981 Nintendo" as the copyright. Later US boards used Set 2 and Nintendo changed the copyright title to "1981 Nintendo of America". What was the main reason for changing the wording of the copyright title?

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  • This looks more like a retro-law question than a retro-computing question.
    – Leo B.
    Aug 28, 2017 at 21:16
  • I don't know if anyone outside of Nintendo can answer this question.
    – JAL
    Aug 28, 2017 at 21:17
  • @LeoB.@JAL is this worth removing the question you think?... Aug 28, 2017 at 21:18
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    I think it is marginally on-topic, but as @JAL said, to answer that question a very specific legal knowledge may be required, so a satisfactory answer is unlikely.
    – Leo B.
    Aug 28, 2017 at 21:30
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    Of course it's on-topic, as it's related to computer/game history. Still it might as well fit into an arcade related site.
    – Raffzahn
    Aug 28, 2017 at 22:31

1 Answer 1

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Quite simple, Nintendo of America was incorporated in 1982 in Redmond (!). Nintendo of America acted from there on as sole copyright holder for all sales within the US.

Before that US sales where in the name of the Nintendo (Japan). But copyrights are still today a national issue, where foreign companies may have a hard time to get their rights acknowledged. Even more so in the 80s.

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