What is your opinion on Nintendo’s actions against PointCrow’s YouTube Channel?
The context, Kotaku: [Nintendo Escalates War On Popular Zelda YouTuber Behind Multiplayer Breath Of The Wild Mod](https://kotaku.com/zelda-breath-wild-multiplayer-tears-kingdom-nintendo-1850339043)
by EasternGuyHere
18 Comments
TrackAttack602
They created zelda so they can do what they want
myjumboeggs
Couldn’t care less, honestly
frosty_mane
I don’t see anything wrong with it
Squish_the_android
My opinion is that I’m tired of people posting about it here.
Hammered21
because there wasn’t enough posts about this already
MonochromeTyrant
I honestly don’t care. Content creators aren’t entitled to making content of others’ IPs, but this specifically seems to be about emulated and modified content, which Nintendo clearly takes issue with. If you can’t handle an IP owner exercising their legal rights, do not use their IP to make a content creation career out of.
Nearby-Tumbleweed-88
He posted videos of a modded, emulated copy of a game made by a company with a long history of striking those sorts of videos on a platform that offers no real recourse for his situation. He shouldn’t have built a career on something so volatile and shouldn’t expect people to feel bad for him. And people should stop posting about it.
Dreyfus2006
I sympathize a lot for PointCrow and I think it was inappropriate for Nintendo’s legal team to take it down. It’s the inevitable consequence of modding a Nintendo game and spreading it around online though. People need to be prepared in advance for Nintendo to make a stink about it.
Ekh0es
I honestly do not care at all.
Sassy-irish-lassy
Nintendo has a very long and very public history of handing out CnD strikes. Anybody who tries to profit in this way should already be aware that they’re playing with fire.
Gergnant
I honestly didn’t know this person existed before people started making these posts.
[deleted]
[deleted]
Mild-Comedy
It’s really fucking shitty. Not only does Point Crow have the right to mod his games and is just Nintendo being a company as dated as Prince Phillips’ corpse, they grouped some of the videos they wanted to take down into two so that he could get two strikes which means he has to be ***really*** careful with his channel now.
And to add salt onto the wound, one of his old videos that just used a vanilla version of BOTW was taken down for no reason.
I really suggest you guys research this topic a bit more because, pardon my French, it’s connerie and just because it’s normal for Nintendo to do this, doesn’t mean it’s right.
Thanks for reading my Comedy Critique™.
CrocomireRex
I don’t feel bad for this moron one bit. This guy played with fire and got burned. TOK comes out in less than a month so of course, Nintendo is going be even more protective than usual. He deserves all of this.
BCProgramming
People are stupid, I guess is the best summary. Easily manipulated because they assume goodwill and for some reason form weird parasocial relationships with content creators.
When large Software companies are releasing a new entry they will usually add new stuff to the content ID matching system. The same thing happened to BOTW shortly before release. Hell, I had some short LTTP and OOT gameplay recordings I uploaded in 2009 claimed in early 2017. A lot of youtubers had Gamecube gameplay of RE4 get claimed in the run-up to the release of the RE4 remake, too.
The process is pretty straightforward. If you don’t think the content claim is legitimate, you can file a counterclaim. The website (youtube) reviews and is then responsible for determining if the video stays monetized for the youtuber.
Ands that’s another aspect to this. Content ID claims do not “take down” videos; they mean the creator no longer receives the ad revenue during the time it’s being reviewed. Most youtubers will instead either delist or even delete videos and pretend that it was the claiming party that “issued a takedown”. it’s a bit of deception that really works well, apparently, given how seldom that aspect tends to be questioned.
Basically, this is simply that this is like- part of running a youtube channel. He’s had one only since 2019. Maybe this is his first run-in with having a video claimed? youtubers deal with this almost constantly.
What is genius here- and what some other youtubers often do- is utilize the ignorance of their viewerbase to their own benefit. See, *ethical* youtubers are much more likely to go “well, that’s part of running a youtube channel”. They might update the description of the affected video to mention the takedown and how it’s demonetized, but will leave it up while they file a counterclaim and go through that process. No need to make a big deal out of it.
However, “youtubeland” has a lot of weird logic where anything is perfectly acceptable if doing otherwise could be justifiably called “It’s leaving money on the table”, it is what results in giant channels using exploitative titles and clickbait thumbnails and argues that it’s OK simply because not doing so would make them less money. Which naturally leads into how you can respond to these sorts of takedowns. Instead of the above tame response, Instead, Delist/remove the affected video(s), and create a new video about how “<X> took down my videos”.
The gaming media, desperate for any sort of content, will latch onto it pretty much immediately. They’ll write articles upon articles, referencing other articles, and so on, to content farm the “event” as best they can, All of this keeps your youtube channel basically at the “center of a controversy” and central to the news cycle. Subscriber counts, view counts, people subscribing to your patreon or buying shit on your merch store to “support” you, as if somehow having a few videos demonetized would otherwise put you into poverty.
I predict right as this is starting to cool off he’ll put out a video “updating” everybody, starting that process over. (Because not doing that? Money left on the table!)
As to the claim itself, “Fair use” in this regard is not at all settled anyway. A “Fair use” defense doesn’t seem to apply here because it’s hardly being used for scholarship, education, parody, or news reporting in that instance and even if it was in some part it’s not limiting the use of the copyrighted work to only the extent necessary for that purpose, so the best fair use defense is that it is a transformative derivative work. Additionally, “Fair use” is a *defense* in court you have to *prove*. You can’t just declare that it’s fair use and the copyright holder vanishes in a puff of smoke.
In the case of video’s being claimed like this, if one can demonstrate fair use, it might help in a counter-claim situation, but it will still be up to the discretion of youtube. I think that demonstrating that this type of content is “transformative” is an uphill battle.
For reference, Chex Quest, a game that is a total conversion of Doom into a different, non-violent game that is aimed at kids, is NOT transformative of the Doom work and had to be licensed. If that doesn’t meet the bar as a transformative work, I can’t imagine a video of a streamer playing a game with their facecam in one corner, chat in a box, and occasional commentary meets the “transformative” bar.
vicctterr
It seems he commissioned the mod and generated revenue from it through YouTube, which is a significant no-no. Nintendo’s decision to strike his non-mod content is unnecessary and careless, but his videos were initially singled out specifically for their association with the multiplayer mod.
Disputing the claims escalated into copyright strikes, which in hindsight was unwise and foolish. Nevertheless, the strikes are temporary and will expire after 90 days, so it is not an irrecoverable situation.
Timbishop123
Seems like Nintendo is going back to their old policies of not really wanting gameplay on YT. Back in the day many gaming youtubers just avoided posting Nintendo games.
NotNamedMartin
I spent the last few days looking into this because it worried me as someone looking more into creation now. After gathering the facts, takedowns were deserved, channel strikes, potentially not. The guy’s been distributing mods alongside his videos profiting off them for basically his whole YT career. He broke the terms of service of the games by distributing mods, it shouldn’t be a surprise service is being withdrawn. Without plausible deniability (there’s publicly available posts of him advertising his mod being free to download) he hasn’t really got a leg to stand on.
18 Comments
They created zelda so they can do what they want
Couldn’t care less, honestly
I don’t see anything wrong with it
My opinion is that I’m tired of people posting about it here.
because there wasn’t enough posts about this already
I honestly don’t care. Content creators aren’t entitled to making content of others’ IPs, but this specifically seems to be about emulated and modified content, which Nintendo clearly takes issue with. If you can’t handle an IP owner exercising their legal rights, do not use their IP to make a content creation career out of.
He posted videos of a modded, emulated copy of a game made by a company with a long history of striking those sorts of videos on a platform that offers no real recourse for his situation. He shouldn’t have built a career on something so volatile and shouldn’t expect people to feel bad for him. And people should stop posting about it.
I sympathize a lot for PointCrow and I think it was inappropriate for Nintendo’s legal team to take it down. It’s the inevitable consequence of modding a Nintendo game and spreading it around online though. People need to be prepared in advance for Nintendo to make a stink about it.
I honestly do not care at all.
Nintendo has a very long and very public history of handing out CnD strikes. Anybody who tries to profit in this way should already be aware that they’re playing with fire.
I honestly didn’t know this person existed before people started making these posts.
[deleted]
It’s really fucking shitty. Not only does Point Crow have the right to mod his games and is just Nintendo being a company as dated as Prince Phillips’ corpse, they grouped some of the videos they wanted to take down into two so that he could get two strikes which means he has to be ***really*** careful with his channel now.
And to add salt onto the wound, one of his old videos that just used a vanilla version of BOTW was taken down for no reason.
I really suggest you guys research this topic a bit more because, pardon my French, it’s connerie and just because it’s normal for Nintendo to do this, doesn’t mean it’s right.
Thanks for reading my Comedy Critique™.
I don’t feel bad for this moron one bit. This guy played with fire and got burned. TOK comes out in less than a month so of course, Nintendo is going be even more protective than usual. He deserves all of this.
People are stupid, I guess is the best summary. Easily manipulated because they assume goodwill and for some reason form weird parasocial relationships with content creators.
When large Software companies are releasing a new entry they will usually add new stuff to the content ID matching system. The same thing happened to BOTW shortly before release. Hell, I had some short LTTP and OOT gameplay recordings I uploaded in 2009 claimed in early 2017. A lot of youtubers had Gamecube gameplay of RE4 get claimed in the run-up to the release of the RE4 remake, too.
The process is pretty straightforward. If you don’t think the content claim is legitimate, you can file a counterclaim. The website (youtube) reviews and is then responsible for determining if the video stays monetized for the youtuber.
Ands that’s another aspect to this. Content ID claims do not “take down” videos; they mean the creator no longer receives the ad revenue during the time it’s being reviewed. Most youtubers will instead either delist or even delete videos and pretend that it was the claiming party that “issued a takedown”. it’s a bit of deception that really works well, apparently, given how seldom that aspect tends to be questioned.
Basically, this is simply that this is like- part of running a youtube channel. He’s had one only since 2019. Maybe this is his first run-in with having a video claimed? youtubers deal with this almost constantly.
What is genius here- and what some other youtubers often do- is utilize the ignorance of their viewerbase to their own benefit. See, *ethical* youtubers are much more likely to go “well, that’s part of running a youtube channel”. They might update the description of the affected video to mention the takedown and how it’s demonetized, but will leave it up while they file a counterclaim and go through that process. No need to make a big deal out of it.
However, “youtubeland” has a lot of weird logic where anything is perfectly acceptable if doing otherwise could be justifiably called “It’s leaving money on the table”, it is what results in giant channels using exploitative titles and clickbait thumbnails and argues that it’s OK simply because not doing so would make them less money. Which naturally leads into how you can respond to these sorts of takedowns. Instead of the above tame response, Instead, Delist/remove the affected video(s), and create a new video about how “<X> took down my videos”.
The gaming media, desperate for any sort of content, will latch onto it pretty much immediately. They’ll write articles upon articles, referencing other articles, and so on, to content farm the “event” as best they can, All of this keeps your youtube channel basically at the “center of a controversy” and central to the news cycle. Subscriber counts, view counts, people subscribing to your patreon or buying shit on your merch store to “support” you, as if somehow having a few videos demonetized would otherwise put you into poverty.
I predict right as this is starting to cool off he’ll put out a video “updating” everybody, starting that process over. (Because not doing that? Money left on the table!)
As to the claim itself, “Fair use” in this regard is not at all settled anyway. A “Fair use” defense doesn’t seem to apply here because it’s hardly being used for scholarship, education, parody, or news reporting in that instance and even if it was in some part it’s not limiting the use of the copyrighted work to only the extent necessary for that purpose, so the best fair use defense is that it is a transformative derivative work. Additionally, “Fair use” is a *defense* in court you have to *prove*. You can’t just declare that it’s fair use and the copyright holder vanishes in a puff of smoke.
In the case of video’s being claimed like this, if one can demonstrate fair use, it might help in a counter-claim situation, but it will still be up to the discretion of youtube. I think that demonstrating that this type of content is “transformative” is an uphill battle.
For reference, Chex Quest, a game that is a total conversion of Doom into a different, non-violent game that is aimed at kids, is NOT transformative of the Doom work and had to be licensed. If that doesn’t meet the bar as a transformative work, I can’t imagine a video of a streamer playing a game with their facecam in one corner, chat in a box, and occasional commentary meets the “transformative” bar.
It seems he commissioned the mod and generated revenue from it through YouTube, which is a significant no-no. Nintendo’s decision to strike his non-mod content is unnecessary and careless, but his videos were initially singled out specifically for their association with the multiplayer mod.
Disputing the claims escalated into copyright strikes, which in hindsight was unwise and foolish. Nevertheless, the strikes are temporary and will expire after 90 days, so it is not an irrecoverable situation.
Seems like Nintendo is going back to their old policies of not really wanting gameplay on YT. Back in the day many gaming youtubers just avoided posting Nintendo games.
I spent the last few days looking into this because it worried me as someone looking more into creation now. After gathering the facts, takedowns were deserved, channel strikes, potentially not. The guy’s been distributing mods alongside his videos profiting off them for basically his whole YT career. He broke the terms of service of the games by distributing mods, it shouldn’t be a surprise service is being withdrawn. Without plausible deniability (there’s publicly available posts of him advertising his mod being free to download) he hasn’t really got a leg to stand on.