Nintendo is coming off of a huge success with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and is about to launch its next blockbuster game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom—but now there is a new controversy surrounding the company and its recent decision to remove dozens of videos on YouTube.
A number of popular creators started reporting that Nintendo was blocking or outright removing their videos on YouTube last week, and the issue has only escalated since then as more content has been removed and at least one creator received multiple outright copyright strikes on his channel during an initial appeal.
According to Eric “PointCrow” Morino, who has hundreds of hours of content for Nintendo titles like Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey, Nintendo not only blocked four of his videos but did not respond to his appeals or an email trying to open up a discussion about why his content was removed. Instead, he heard nothing, and 24 additional videos—not including short-form content—were likewise blocked and taken down.
In a response video, PointCrow shared the specifics, showing that of the 28 videos affected, 24 were claimed and blocked by Nintendo of America while the four videos he initially posted about were all issued copyright strikes by Nintendo of Japan. In total, his channel was now dealing with concerns of termination if another strike hits it and videos totaling over 55 million views are now completely unavailable on the platform.
For the content in question, PointCrow is active in pointing out that a majority of the videos do in fact include mods for Nintendo’s games. However, all of the mods used that he commissioned himself, such as one that turns BotW into a multiplayer game, run on custom code that do not use any Nintendo assets and are not being sold.
Along with that, PointCrow also notes that videos for Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Violet, and Wii Sports Resort are also included on the list. There is also one piece of content that has been removed that features no mods whatsoever, which likewise happened to YouTuber Croton.
Taking into account all of his own content that was targeted in this wave of takedowns, PointCrow cites that none of his content actively goes against the online video guidelines Nintendo has publicly released regarding its IP—without taking into account arguments of fair use. And, heading into the release of Tears of the Kingdom, a precedent like this has PointCrow and other creators worried that Nintendo could simply selectively choose what content is in violation of these policies regardless of the company’s “respect” for creativity regarding content using its IP.
“The precedent that this sets is that even though Nintendo mentions that content like this is fine in their guidelines, they are willing to ignore their own rules to strike down content they don’t like,” PointCrow said to Dot Esports.
“The wider implication is that Nintendo can and will take down any video with their IP, regardless of if it’s deemed allowable. I also think this hurts viewers the most. Content creators are now more on edge than before, meaning that the creative content that we were able to produce will be toned down significantly.”
This is far from the first time Nintendo has made controversial decisions regarding content creators, with its older Nintendo Creators Program being shuttered in late 2018 due to backlash from fans regarding its monetization model—which then directly led to the guidelines we have now for content usage.
In January 2022, the company targeted dozens of BotW mods in a similar fashion to the current situation, taking down over 40 videos from modder Waikuteru’s channel. Other content creators who have used mods with Nintendo games have likewise been subject to these removals.
For PointCrow specifically, he and his team are now stuck in content limbo as they plead with Nintendo to communicate with creators who are affected by these takedowns. Because their only other option is to appeal the copyright notices and put themselves at risk of a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
Related: Nintendo targets Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaker in latest legal pursuit
With the damage already done to his channel, PointCrow is now considering ways to move away from a type of content he praises as having made a “positive impact on the greater Nintendo community.”
“If you [Nintendo] truly respect us, don’t take this creativity away from us. These channels you’ve targeted, these videos you’re claiming are from some of the people that are the most passionate about your games,” PointCrow said.
“You’re stifling that imagination and punishing those who want to share it with others when they do it in the way you have outlined for us creators. Please remove these strikes and claims, or at least start a dialogue with us so we can figure this out and all move forward with the excitement I’m sure you would love to see about your future games.”
