Discord, a messaging platform with a reputation for less-than-ideal privacy protections, has reached a point of frustration with a South Korean video game developer attempting to identify alleged copyright violators on the platform. For several months, Discord has been withholding the identities of certain user accounts from Nexon Korea Corporation, which has been seeking this information.
According to court documents initially reported by TorrentFreak, Nexon Korea claims that Discord has not complied with a federal court’s subpoena, issued in May, which demanded the disclosure of information to identify users responsible for allegedly infringing posts. Discord’s legal representatives have argued, in communications with Nexon, that the subpoena is excessively broad and places an unjust burden on Discord to act as a copyright enforcer for another company.
Nexon Korea, known for video games such as MapleStory, MapleStory2, Sudden Attack, The Kingdom of the Winds, Dungeon & Fighter, Grand Chase, and Elsword, obtained the subpoena from a federal court in Texas under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The current dispute is not Nexon’s first attempt to address Discord posts with DMCA takedown notices. In a previous case, detailed in a letter from Discord’s attorneys included in Nexon’s filings, Discord had complied with a challenging subpoena issued in October 2023, providing information about 64 users. The attorneys noted that this information was delivered to Nexon’s representatives on June 13, 2024. They argued that Nexon’s request for additional data related to more User IDs infringing on the same copyrights is an unwarranted attempt to revisit a resolved matter. Discord insists that while it is committed to upholding legal obligations, it refuses to function as a copyright partner for Nexon.
In their communication, Discord’s attorneys mentioned their readiness to file a motion to quash the subpoena but, according to Nexon, have not done so promptly. Nexon has petitioned the court to compel Discord to comply with the order and provide identifying details about the alleged infringers.
