Nintendo blocks 1,300 videos from important channel in one day – “We have no alternative”

The YouTuber GilvaSunner, who has uploaded almost all Nintendo soundtracks of the past decades to his channel, is now dealing with rights holder Nintendo personally. The Japanese publisher has now blocked around 1,300 videos, leaving a mourning community behind.

what is the situation

• YouTuber GilvaSunner has uploaded many Nintendo game soundtracks over the past few years and fans are hailing him for it.
• Nintendo has now fired over 1,300 copyright claims into his inbox, making much of the music on the YouTuber’s channel inaccessible.
• True fans of Nintendo are disappointed because the channel was the only quality source for hours of classic gaming music history. Now there is no alternative.

Nintendo blocks songs on YouTube, but offers fans no alternative

The fact that Nintendo likes to swing the ban hammer when it comes to their works in the hands of fans is not new. Among other things, Nintendo is known for notoriously having all fan games destroyed. The group also doesn’t want to see art based on Nintendo’s classics.

YouTuber GilvaSunner posted on Twitter last Saturday morning that Nintendo had filed over 1,300 copyright claims. The channel operator enjoys great popularity among Nintendo fans. Because he doesn’t just upload any soundtracks.

Among other things, the Nintendo songs land on the channel, which cannot be heard anywhere else. The YouTuber posted a list of games whose soundtracks have been 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 January 31, 2022 | 12:30 p.m.) the songs for Mario Sunshine were also blocked. What remains surprising is that GilvaSunner does not earn any money by uploading Nintendo songs. Here you can again build the bridge to the fan games. Nintendo also had them removed from the network, although they did not bring in any money (via looper.com).

Here’s why the YouTuber isn’t surprised: GilvaSunner wrote on Twitter that he had long expected Nintendo to take this step. It’s not the first time he’s clashed with the publisher, after all. Already in 2019 and 2020 there was a bang and Nintendo claimed several videos with their content.

I’m neither angry nor surprised that Nintendo is taking this step. But I’m a bit disappointed because there’s just no real alternative! […] It’s their content, after all.

GilvaSunner via Twitter

Can Nintendo do that? Yes, Nintendo owns the rights to the music. The group is free to decide where this music appears and who has access to it.

In this case, however, Nintendo actually chooses not to make the music accessible to anyone. They themselves offer no official way to listen to the songs on streaming platforms.

Here’s what Nintendo fans think about deleting the music

Below the tweet from Youtuber GilvaSunner, the mood seems clear: According to their own moral compass, Nintendo are clearly the bad guys here. Some users simply make fun of the publisher and say that the music player in Smash Ultimate should be enough for other fans.

Others point out that they didn’t just enjoy the music on channels like this one. Interacting with other fans in the comments was also an important part of the experience for them. And still others express their incomprehension for the situation:

Nintendo could easily create its own music channel on YouTube and even make money from it. They could also put their songs on Spotify — I just don’t get it. It would be so easy.

electrode via Twitter

There are currently no known plans for such a channel or a Spotify account. So far, Nintendo has not commented on the debate.