Nintendo’s lawyers have been busy for the past month or so, given the company has been very much in the spotlight for its legal efforts to subdue what it considers to be violations of intellectual property rights.
Though Nintendo has never been shy to use all of its legal resources to make sure its brand and creations are only used as the company deems fit, recently it's gone out of its way to send cease and desist letters to Smash tournaments, banning the sale of Joy-Con controller shells meant to raise money for charity, and requesting certain content to be taken down from YouTube.
In this case another example of the latter tactic has surfaced after YouTuber GilvaSunner posted a tweet where he showed a flurry of blocked videos on his channel due to copyright claims from Nintendo Japan. The videos all featured music from popular Nintendo games like Mario Kart Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64, as GilvaSunner’s channel is dedicated to posting a “selection of mostly Nintendo video game music.”
Though Nintendo has clearly targeted GilvaSunner, the rest of the channel’s content seems intact, which seems like an odd scenario, considering most of its available content is still music from Nintendo games like Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. 3DS, Hyrule Warriors, and several Kirby games, just to name a few.
Over this period, Nintendo has received intense backlash from its own fans due to these tight corporate policies when it comes to their intellectual property, starting with the campaign #FreeMelee. All that escalated this weekend when Nintendo reportedly cancelled a stream for a Splatoon 2 tournament where many teams were donning names in support for the Super Smash Bros. Melee community.
So where does this tug o’ war between Nintendo and its fans end? It’s hard to tell but perhaps, at least when it comes to music, the company could take some notes from the likes of Capcom, Bandai Namco and Square Enix, whose music is available through popular streaming services, something Nintendo itself remains reluctant to try.
Source: @GilvaSunner|Twitter