Nintendo is quick to pull a DMCA on anything they disagree with, but if you get into too many fights you are bound to lose some, like their latest bout against a YouTube channel.
DidYouKnowGaming has been around for quite a long time, the blog and YouTube channel both center around video-game trivia and curiosities, with a heavy emphasis on Nintendo properties.
A few months ago, DidYouKnowGaming posted the following video about a lost Legend of Zelda game for the Nintendo DS:
The video is a very informative documentary about a Legend of Zelda game that was pitched by the developers of the Metroid Prime series but ended up not being finished.
Despite not infringing upon Nintendo’s copyright, the video was quickly removed, which adding a strike to DidYouKnowGaming’s YouTube account.
YouTube works on a three-strike system, meaning that DidYouKnowGaming could have 3 videos DMCA’d at the same time and the channel would be subjected to termination.
Upon being unfairly dealt a strike, DidYouKnowGaming took it to Twitter and said the following:
“Nintendo has removed our Heroes of Hyrule video from YouTube. This was a journalistic video documenting a game that Retro Studios pitched to Nintendo nearly 20 years ago.
This is an attempt by a large corporation to silence whatever journalism they don’t like, and a slap in the face for video game history preservation. We are exploring all available options to restore the video.”
Fans immediately riled up behind the channel and tweeted at YouTube in the hopes that this unfair strike was fixed.
The video was down for 20 days, but on the 28th of December, 2022, DidYouKnowGaming confirmed on Twitter they won the DMCA dispute. The documentary is now back up on YouTube, despite Nintendo’s objections.
What is most upsetting is that this was only resolved because of DidYouKnowGaming’s large following, which actually let them dispute this DMCA.
Any other smaller content creators would simply have to settle with the reality that their channel is one third of the way into losing monetization or being deleted altogether, alongside the fact that Nintendo could do it again with no issues.
This shows that Nintendo isn’t allowed to bully every content creator they want into submission, and even though it is absurd that fans of the company have to fight for the right of making content, DidYouKnowGaming’s case does show that there is hope when it comes to fighting back.
