Former Pokémon lawyer says fundraising and press coverage lead to fan project takedowns

The former chief lawyer for The Pokémon Company says fan projects are more likely to be taken down if they get press coverage and start making money.

In an interview with Aftermath, former Pokémon general counsel Don McGowan was asked how The Pokémon Company finds fan projects before issuing them with cease and desist orders.

McGowan replied that the press often did the work for him, because when a fan project becomes popular its coverage will likely gain it more attention.

“Short answer: thanks to you folks,” he replied. “I would be sitting in my office minding my own business when someone from the company would send me a link to a news article, or I would stumble across it myself.

“I teach Entertainment Law at the University of Washington and say this to my students – the worst thing on earth is when your ‘fan’ project gets press, because now I know about you.”

McGowan did also stress, however, that simply being covered in the press isn’t necessarily enough to get a fan project taken down. It’s when the developers start trying to make money from the project that The Pokémon Company is likely to take action.

“But that’s [press coverage] not the end of the equation,” he explained. “You don’t send a takedown right away.

“You wait to see if they get funded (for a Kickstarter or similar) – if they get funded then that’s when you engage. No one likes suing fans.”

Last month The Pokémon Company announced its next major game, Pokémon Legends Z-A.

Announced during a Pokemon Presents video, the game will take place in the Kalos Region, the setting of Pokemon X&Y, and will be released in 2025.