YouTuber GilvaSunner, who has uploaded almost all Nintendo soundtracks from the last decades on his channel, is now facing off with the rights holder Nintendo. The Japanese publisher has now blocked around 1,300 videos, leaving behind a grieving community.
What is the situation?
- YouTuber GilvaSunner has uploaded many soundtracks from Nintendo games over the past years, and fans celebrate him for it.
- Nintendo has now sent him over 1,300 copyright claims and thus made a large part of the music on the YouTuber’s channel inaccessible.
- True fans of Nintendo are disappointed because the channel was the only high-quality source for hours of immersion in classics from gaming music history. Now there is no alternative.
Nintendo blocks songs on YouTube but offers no alternative to fans
Nintendo’s penchant for using the ban hammer when it comes to fan-made content is not new. Among other things, Nintendo is known for notoriously getting all fan games taken down. The company also doesn’t want to see art based on Nintendo classics.
Last Saturday morning, YouTuber GilvaSunner tweeted that Nintendo had initiated over 1,300 copyright claims. The channel operator is very popular among Nintendo fans because he uploads not just any soundtracks.
His channel features Nintendo songs that are otherwise not available anywhere else. The YouTuber posted a list of games whose soundtracks were deleted from his channel (via twitter.com):
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Super Smash Bros Melee
- Super Smash Bros Brawl
- Yoshi’s Island
- Super Mario Land
- Mario Galaxy
- Super Mario World
- New Super Mario Bros
- Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
- Mario 3D World
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
- Kid Icarus Uprising
- Kirby’s Dream Land
Just a few minutes ago (as of 31.01.2022 | 12:30 PM), the songs from Mario Sunshine were also blocked. Interestingly, GilvaSunner does not earn money from the uploads of the Nintendo songs. Once again, this can be linked to fan games. Nintendo also had them removed from the internet, despite them not generating any revenue (via looper.com).
This is why the YouTuber is not surprised: GilvaSunner writes on Twitter that he anticipated this move from Nintendo for a long time. After all, it’s not the first time he has clashed with the publisher. In 2019 and 2020, there were already disputes, and Nintendo claimed numerous videos containing their content.
I am neither angry nor surprised that Nintendo is taking this step. But I am a bit disappointed because there simply is no real alternative! […] After all, it’s their content.
GilvaSunner via Twitter
Can Nintendo do that? Yes, Nintendo is the rights holder of the music. The company is free to decide where this music appears and who has access to it.
In this case, however, Nintendo is essentially choosing to make the music inaccessible to everyone. They themselves do not offer any official way to listen to the songs on streaming platforms.
What Nintendo fans think about the deletion of the music
Underneath the tweet from YouTuber GilvaSunner, the mood seems clear: According to their own moral compass, Nintendo are clearly the villains here. Some users simply make fun of the publisher and say that the other fans must make do with the music player in Smash Ultimate.
Others emphasize that they not only enjoyed the music on channels like this one. The interaction with other fans in the comments was also an important part of the experience for them. And others again express their bewilderment about the situation:
Nintendo could easily create their own music channel on YouTube and even make money from it. They could also release their songs on Spotify — I just don’t understand it. It would be so simple.
electrode via Twitter
Plans for such a channel or a Spotify account are currently unknown. So far, Nintendo has not commented on the debate.
