Wouldn't the best solution to cease and desist orders and fan projects...

[CM30]

Be to just not make websites/talk about them/take lots of screenshots of them until the project is nearly done?

Seriously. Look at all the fan films Nintendo has shut down and the fan games/remakes Square Enix has stopped, and then you'll notice the key reason is because the creators are so hungry for fame they made some ultra fancy movie studio like website six months in advance of any progress and ended up featured on Digg and the like. So why not just work on these projects in private, and then make a massive announcement on release day? You'll then at least get a few months head start before the lawyers close in...

It's pretty much why the Hero of Time film, Chrono Resurrection, Crimson Echoses and a few other known fan projects got shut down, because they were just a bit too... overly public about the project before it was done.

Not as if it's unique to gaming unfortunately, the best way to catch a silly 'criminal' is to watch them boast on Facebook.

 

[Dantheman]

Lucky me, I'm making something original.

 

[Zexis]

Fan films and creations just build up hype for the games they revolve around. And Nintendo wants to stop that?

Of course they do. Because someone else is reaping the benefits of Nintendo's characters. Even if the fans aren't making any moo-lah off of their projects, Nintendo wants the credit.

There are loopholes, of course. One project shut down? Create another in its stead. Heck, you could make them almost identical. Generally speaking, the legal system is a joke. And with the internet in its current state, Nintendo can't stop a persistent fan-group from creating and finishing a project.