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Nintendo is back again with their classic copyright shenanigans, and this time it's once again against YouTube content creators.
The modding community for Breath of the Wild has been a popular topic and a new way to play the game ever since the release of the original back in 2017, from some meandering but funny mods like adding Waluigi as a model for Link, to mods adding entirely new content in the form of fanmade DLC "Second Wind", the game is being kept very much alive and fresh even 6 years after its original release.

However, Nintendo seems to think otherwise, and they don't like it when people play the game in forms they don't force intend you to, so in their usual grasp and abuse of the copyright system, and taking advantage of YouTube's awful system to dealing with copyright stuff, they blocked several videos of YouTube content creators that dared to showcase any kind of mods regarding Breath of the Wild (and some that also showcased other games, like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet) in this past week. Some creators not only got their videos blocked, but they also started receiving copyright strikes on a handful of their videos, to which, for those unaware, accumulating 3 copyright strikes means the immediate termination of the entire YouTube channel, and having one's entire YT channel at risk is something of great concern.

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This isn't the first time Nintendo does something like this, and most certainly (and sadly), this won't be the last time neither, as Nintendo is well known for their tyrannical use of the copyright system to bend their will, even when both modding and emulation are known to be completely legal as long as there's no direct piracy involved to run the games, and more so since the videos are of a transformative nature and fall under the legal "fair use" term.
These recent attacks from Nintendo to BotW modders seems to be related to the upcoming release of the BotW sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, releasing less than a month away in May 12th, so it seems to be a tactic of sorts to "protect" their IP brand from undesirable usage by them.

Some content creators, like PointCrow, have started to counter-claim these copyright claims by Nintendo, as stated directly through Twitter:

Update: I have appealed these claims. As of now, they are still visible for you to watch -- however, they are not monetized. Hopefully Nintendo releases these claims, as I significantly transform their work and my videos are under fair use.

While the counter-claim can liberate the videos to be watched, they can still be claimed yet again by Nintendo, but this time with a lawsuit in hand, so it remains to be seen if Nintendo will actually continue pursuing this rather abusive use of the copyright system in their favour.

 

[The Catboy]

Nintendo has been giving more support to their legal team than they have their own games

 

[Noctosphere]

dude just pirate the sh!t when it leaks your just giving them sales they don't care what you do with those copies

I'm not 100% sure, but I think if someone wants to boycott a company, the best way is to not buy anything from them, and I think he already knows that

 

[lebrawurschd]

Nintendo hates their community. It’s no wonder more and more people are resorting to alternatives.

Yes it is, modifying the console console and games is against Nintendos ToS and they argeed to the ToS.

 

[B.B.Link]

Was his videos monetized?

 

[Kioku]

Yes it is, modifying the console console and games is against Nintendos ToS and they argeed to the ToS.

ToS isn’t necessarily a legally binding contract. Even less so when you didn’t even agree to them… Hell, if Nintendo and the like can dance around them to what extent is this even a valid argument?

 

[LightBeam]

Nintendo hates their fans. And some people are still not convinced that's the case even tho it's been proven times and times again. Doesn't matter the game. The only BIG redeeming quality is the quality of their games (not all games, for sure). The Zelda games are made out of passion really. But damn, the higher ups are some fucking out of touch idiots

 

[eternal]

I don't really understand. Posting gameplay footage is legal, isn't it?

IANAL, but from what I understand the Fair Use act is all over the place with its usage for streaming/showing game recordings especially with the bigger companies/stream sites like youtube or switch.

It seems to be a very grey area, as some have alluded to. Long story short is, if there are no guidelines, or if the company in question says its good in a "broad stroke" its easy to do it (release that content that was streamed/recorded). However companies like Nintendo, and even more recently Square-Enix have been cracking down on people streaming cause they think they are "losing" money.

I waited for almost a year? for stranger of paradise to officially release (away from epic store for me), and it popped on Steam with basically no warning. And then I saw the price of the game along with their streaming guidelines, and thought huh...they dont even want free publicity? And wheres my, "I waited discount?" lol. Honestly from what I've personally read, it doesnt seem like these huge game companies are losing money from having some cutscenes/and end gameplay spoiled by the few people who watch it.

Yes there are huge million sub youtube folks recording/streaming and posting videos, but the fans usually go and buy those games not only cause they like the ip, but also because of the game player showing it on the streaming sites!

Here's the Stranger of Paradise streaming/recording guideliness that I think has some interesting legalese. Seems like they are wanting to lean towards nintendo style on hunting people if this keeps up more. Just a guesstimation...
Stranger of Paradise, streaming guidelines

 

[The Catboy]

Yes it is, modifying the console console and games is against Nintendos ToS and they argeed to the ToS.

That’s manufactured consent. Nintendo put users in a situation where you either agree or get nothing from the product they spent their money on. And if you don’t agree, then they’ve left zero alternatives. Nintendo has also spent more time shutting down fans than encouraging them. Clearly these mods have a demand and Nintendo doesn’t care to work with those demands. Nintendo ignores basically all community feedback on their products and even seems to be actively avoiding them or half-ass implementing them. Sure, you are correct that all of this violates the TOS but honestly Nintendo created this problem. Quite honestly, fans are seeing Nintendo spending more time enforcing their TOS over supporting their products. Games like Animal Crossing have pretty much stopped seeing support. The promises to support games like the Pokémon series has fallen flat. The Switch still lacks features. The rambling list could go on for days while Nintendo spends their time sending their legal team after people for even thinking about their games.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Even under their own content guidelines, there was nothing wrong with the videos or mod. It doesn't mention anything wrong with modding, unless you count the line "only permitted to use Nintendo Game Content that has been officially released" which I think is intended to mean no leaking stuff.

The only other line which could be a problem is "We reserve the right to remove any content that we believe is unlawful, infringing, inappropriate, or not in line with these Guidelines." but it isn't unlawful or infringing as it's not pirating the game, using any of BOTW's source code or anything like that. And if multiplayer is inappropriate then Splatoon must be the wild west.

Not sure what you mean but Nintendo does not allow modding. Modding = piracy in Nintendo's eyes (it usually is though, not gonna lie since you need to jailbreak or emulate a game in order to mod it).

 

[Tomato123]

Not sure what you mean but Nintendo does not allow modding. Modding = piracy in Nintendo's eyes (it usually is though, not gonna lie since you need to jailbreak or emulate a game in order to mod it).

In Nintendo's eyes, sure. But that would just be them blatantly ignoring the law and knowing no one involved has the money to fight them on it.

 

[ertaboy356b]

In Nintendo's eyes, sure. But that would just be them blatantly ignoring the law and knowing no one involved has the money to fight them on it.

Anyhow, not in the defense of Nintendo, they have this guideline for video creators https://www.nintendo.co.jp/networkservice_guideline/en/index.html

I think Nintendo has the right to copyright strike content that uses their IP especially if you are making tons of money from it.

 

[Tomato123]

Anyhow, not in the defense of Nintendo, they have this guideline for video creators https://www.nintendo.co.jp/networkservice_guideline/en/index.html

I think Nintendo has the right to copyright strike content that uses their IP especially if you are making tons of money from it.

I was quoting from that originally. Nothing much on there in terms of saying 'no mods allowed'. Not sure exactly of the legality of the last guideline before the FAQ as not a lawyer but it sounds like they want the ability to just remove any videos for any reason they want, which would make the other guidelines pointless if they can just do that anyway. Just because they believe something is unlawful or whatever the case doesn't mean it is.

 

[ertaboy356b]

I think the "no mods allowed" came from this if I understood it correctly

• You are only permitted to use Nintendo Game Content that has been officially released, or from promotional materials officially released by Nintendo (such as product trailers or Nintendo Directs).

 

[Tomato123]

I think the "no mods allowed" came from this if I understood it correctly

I felt like that was intended as a way of saying no leaking stuff. But it certainly could be interpreted like that too. So maybe yeah.

However, the mod still doesn't actually use any Nintendo assets afaik therefore surely doesn't count? If it did then could I take a video of me playing BOTW and talking over it and then cut to another non-Nintendo game as it's still in the same video. Just feels like them bending the rules of their own guidelines to make it hurt modders without directly saying it.

 

[chrisrlink]

Yes it is, modifying the console console and games is against Nintendos ToS and they argeed to the ToS.

i dindn't agree i hexedited a file to bypass it ((mainly to get past the jc connection screen with broken joycons)besides a TOS has little weight in court cause if it was ninitendo could stuff anything like you mod your console we''ll send a terminator to kill you, binding to the service yes binding to the law no and i rather keep it that way

 

[anhminh]

Call me old fashion but if the author/artist/creator don't want their works being modified then people should just respect their wish instead of call them asshole for doing that.

 

[eriol33]

In Japan, modding your game is a grey area, even your saves

https://massivelyop.com/2019/01/07/...w-make-console-and-save-data-modding-illegal/

That's probably because they perceive other people circumvent a copyrighted system.

 

[MadonnaProject]

Like a bunch of squinty eyed nazis with bad teeth.

 

[halfashark]

A warning that does no good but get people pissed off at them. If there's something I've learned from bs of this sort, is that, rather than get people to back down or what, you just gonna have way, way more people reuploading whatever you're trying to block or what.
Eh, myself, if say I had a switch and it got banned somehow, I would rather look up for a way to circumvent it rather than "crawl back" to them. Or just switch (heh) to the switch emulator on PC or something.

no.
you don't understand.

they don't care about the small group of hackers that will always hack. they want to scare the shit out of the 14-16 year olds doing it for the first time.

 

[AndorfRequissa]

just imagine buying a car and someone saying you cant put on an aftermarket muffler because it violates the terms of service. this whole discussion is nuts. slaves dont own anything and cant do anything with anything they are able to access.