Nintendo has sent 1,300 copyright strikes to the YouTube channel GilvaSunner, which hosted the soundtracks of several classic Nintendo games.
Nintendo has abruptly blocked over 1300 YouTube videos containing copyrighted music from its various games. This is the latest in a long line of copyright crackdowns from the company that most often target YouTube channels, streamers, indie designers, and other fan projects.
Nintendo has become notorious for its aggressive and seemingly random copyright enforcement. Many fans have taken issue with these methods of protecting Nintendo’s copyrights and the opportunistic, unexplained way that it utilizes them. Countless fan creations have been erased from the public sphere after suddenly receiving cease-and-desist letters from Nintendo, with no way to appeal the decision and no realistic path towards litigation. Many of these creations have been free fan games, remakes, and mods, such as the ill-fated Metroid 2 remake AM2R or the multiple cases of classic Nintendo games remade in Unreal Engine. Videos containing Nintendo content are another frequent target, especially those that contain music from Nintendo’s games.
One well-known YouTube channel called GilvaSunner has just been hit hard by Nintendo’s copyright enforcement, with over 1300 of their videos blocked in a single day. The channel, which uploads a variety of video game soundtracks and remixes, has been flagged by Nintendo in the past for posting music from some of its most popular titles. However, GilvaSunner does not monetize any of their videos, and many full soundtracks of Nintendo games still remain on the channel. In spite of this, Nintendo has once again invoked copyright for a number of soundtracks, and GilvaSunner tweeted a list of the specific ones that were removed.
Over 1300 copyright blocks on the YT channel today. Here are all the soundtracks Nintendo has blocked this time. pic.twitter.com/AqSyIdc4iJ
As always, GilvaSunner has said they will fully cooperate with Nintendo’s demands and respect its decisions. On the other hand, GilvaSunner has also pointed out that there’s virtually no other way for fans to listen to these renowned soundtracks. While some other Japanese publishers like Capcom and Square Enix have finally made many of their game soundtracks available on music streaming services, Nintendo has refused to do so. GilvaSunner is apparently not angry or surprised at Nintendo’s actions but publicly asked the company to give fans a reasonable alternative.
There are many companies and platforms (including YouTube and Twitch themselves) that can’t seem to figure out how to adequately handle copyright policy and implementation in the modern era. Vague guidelines, inconsistent enforcement, and harsh punishments are all too common. However, Nintendo’s approach to copyright shows that it even wants to control how its IPs are seen and heard, which is both damaging and insulting to many dedicated players. Hopefully, GilvaSunner’s message will get through, so western fans can at least have an official way to listen to beloved Nintendo music.
Source: GilvaSunner
