Why Nintendo Sent This YouTuber 1,300 Copystrikes
Though nothing can take away the joy players feel from beloved Nintendo games like "Mario," "Pokémon," and "Zelda," the shady actions of the company sure do put a damper on things. Much to the dismay of fans and content creators, one of Nintendo's favorite power moves as of late is to issue copyright claims against anyone who uses even a sliver of the company's intellectual property. After receiving over 1300 copystrikes from Nintendo on Jan. 29, 2022, it might "game over" for YouTuber GilvaSunner, whose channel features "a selection of mostly Nintendo video game music,"
This isn't the first time Nintendo has used its legal power against its own fans. In fact, Nintendo first came for GilvaSunner with similar claims back in 2019, though nothing comes close to the magnitude of action the company has taken this time around. Now, Nintendo fans won't be able to easily enjoy soundtracks from "Yoshi's Island," "Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," "Super Mario World," and many more due to the massive number of copystrikes.
GilvaSunner isn't alone in this predicament. Nintendo has also recently come after a fan-made "Pokémon" FPS, a "Pokémon"-loving streamer who had to rebrand her pocket monster-themed username, and even an original mobile RPG with a touchscreen mechanic Nintendo thought was too similar to a DS function. Clearly, any fans playing with the boundaries of copyright and creative use should be prepared for a boss battle with Nintendo's legal team.
Nintendo Fans Want Streamable Soundtracks
Of course, getting a copystrike for posting a full video game soundtrack seems within the realm of reasonable behavior, but now that Nintendo has rendered a bulk of GilvaSunner's content inaccessible, listening to many Nintendo soundtracks is a challenge. As was the case last time Nintendo came for some of GilvaSunner's videos back in 2019, fans were quick to offer support.
More than anything, people want to listen to Nintendo's music when they're not playing the games, but the corporation has made that quite the challenge, which is why GilvaSunner's channel was so successful to begin with. As one fan wrote in reply to the situation, "Nintendo unironically thinks the music player in smash ultimate is how people listen to music." Another pitched a solution, as well as echoes of fellow fan frustration: "Nintendo could just make their own music YouTube channel and even monetize it, or publish songs on Spotify. I don't get it. It would be so simple to provide fans with a way to listen to music, while simultaneously profiting and removing the need for channels like this."
As GilvaSunner shared during the 2019 round of copyright claims, "I do not monetize videos and do not profit from them." Though they're aware that what they're doing isn't totally in the clear, GilvaSunner finds it "a bit disappointing there is hardly an alternative."
While Nintendo music is now a bit harder to find, players can still keep an ear out for this musical easter egg while playing their next Nintendo game, or, as one fan put it, "lugging our switches around like an oversized iPod."