Nintendo is famously protective of its intellectual property and has a history of suing content creators who it feels have overstepped the mark (it isn’t shy about suing slightly bigger fish, either).
However, its latest move feels particularly heavy-handed, as it has issued a copyright strike against a YouTube channel that reviews emulation handhelds.
Retro Game Corps, in case you didn’t know, is an excellent channel with over half a million subscribers which covers many different retro gaming systems, but its main focus is modern-day portable devices from the likes of AYANEO, Anbernic and Retroid which are capable of emulating classic games from yesteryear.
As you might imagine, many of these systems run games for consoles like the NES, SNES, Game Boy, N64 and even Wii U, and the channel’s videos do a great job of showing off how these titles perform on third-party hardware, helping consumers make an informed choice.
However, Russ, the channel’s owner, has recently had a video taken down at Nintendo’s request which relates directly to emulation of its products.
“It does appear that my worst fears are true, and that I am being specifically targeted by Nintendo,” he says in a statement posted on YouTube. “My Wii U video was taken down and I received another copyright strike, even though this showcase video was no different than all of the tech demos and reviews I have made on this channel previously.”
Russ says that he’s considering filing a counter-claim under fair use, “as the video was for educational use, transformative in nature, and had no [effect] on the market – it was a demonstration of a console no longer for sale.” However, he says he is “reluctant to open that can of worms with a multi-billion dollar corporation, as their next step would be to file legal action.”
In the short term, this means that Retro Game Corps will no longer be showing Nintendo games during its videos. As Russ notes, this is a shame “because I love using those games for my hardware demonstrations.” He adds that he is now “going through the videos I am working on and blurring out any Nintendo game content as a precaution, even innocuous content like NES games.” This will naturally have an impact on his output.
“I know this is disappointing news, but with now two strikes on my channel, I don’t really have any other choice except to adjust accordingly,” Russ concludes. “Thanks for your understanding.”
[Editor’s note: As Russ notes, this is the second strike from Nintendo on his channel. The first, it’s worth pointing out, was related to his coverage of a device which allows you to dump Switch games to your computer, and it’s easy to see why his coverage of this device brought the channel to Nintendo’s attention. Should Nintendo be able to file a copyright strike on this content? That’s another question entirely.]
Do you think Nintendo is justified to be chasing after YouTube accounts showing emulation of its older systems and games? As Russ notes, the Wii U is no longer in production and its online store has been closed down, which means Nintendo no longer makes any more from the console whatsoever.
However, there will be some who argue that these emulation handhelds – which often come pre-loaded with hundreds of games without paying the copyright holders a single penny – are legally dubious at the best of times, and Nintendo is well within its rights to try and shut down any outlet which promotes them.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, it also begs another question – if sites advocate for hacking systems to help preserve games and Nintendo shuts them down, what does that mean for the state of game preservation in general? Let us know your thoughts on this matter below.
Go on.... treat yourself to a new game.
