Nintendo is After YouTube Channel Now. They Also Took Action Against Creators of Ryujinx Emulator
Nintendo is taking care of another emulator, making use of its experienced lawyers.
Nintendo is known for having a strict policy when it comes to protecting its intellectual property. In early September, they sued the developers of Palworld, a move that didn’t sit well with the gaming community. This time, Nintendo even went as far as issuing a copyright strike against a YouTube channel called Retro Game Corps that reviews emulation handhelds.
Table of contents:
Going after a YouTube channel
The channel in question, Retro Game Corps, primarily covers modern portable gaming devices but also dives into retro gaming systems. Russ, the channel's owner, frequently uses specific hardware to emulate classic games. Recently, he was forced to take down a video at Nintendo's request, which involved the emulation of one of their games. Russ addressed the situation on his YouTube channel.
Hi friends, well it does appear that my worst fears are true, and that I am being specifically targeted by Nintendo. My Wii U video was taken down and I received another copyright strike, even though this showcase video was no different than all of the tech demos and reviews I have made on this channel previously.
Later in his post, the channel owner expressed his willingness to challenge the claim but also noted that taking legal action against a multi-billion-dollar corporation might not be the best idea:
I am still considering a counter claim under fair use, as the video was for educational use, transformative in nature, and had no effect on the market -- it was a demonstration of a console no longer for sale (even the Wii U eShop is closed, so the company itself has no means of earning revenue from Wii U sales). However, I am reluctant to open that can of worms with a multi-billion dollar corporation, as their next step would be to file legal action.
Now, the question is whether Nintendo is justified in pursuing an account that uses emulation of its older systems and games. As Russ pointed out, the Wii U eShop is closed, and the company has no way to earn money from those games anymore. Additionally, he uses his videos for educational purposes.
On the other hand, some people might argue that emulation handhelds often come with hundreds of pre-loaded games that the YouTuber isn’t paying for. In that case, Nintendo may have a valid reason to request the removal of that specific video.
Ryujinx emulator case
There's another case involving Nintendo that’s worth mentioning. Ryujinx is an open-source Nintendo Switch emulator created by gdkchan. The Japanese gaming giant requested that the creator of the Ryujinx emulator stop working on it. As a result, the person behind the project was forced to shut it down and delete all of their materials. It’s also worth noting that the entire project took nearly seven years to complete, and its creators are devastated by the whole thing. On Reddit, many people have expressed their sympathy for the authors. This situation clearly highlights the pressure that independent emulator creators face from Nintendo.
We still don’t know the exact details of what Nintendo offered to the creator of Ryujinx. While we can speculate that it may have involved a lawsuit, there's also the case of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom running on the Ryujinx emulator two full weeks before the game was officially released. Every situation has two sides, and it’s likely that we’ll hear more about Nintendo’s lawsuits in the future, along with the development of other emulators using the Japanese giant’s software.
