I really disagree with gamers and “content creators” on one major topic, more than anything else: Nintendo.
It may not be that Nintendo disagrees with the fair use doctrine—what they are doing is going after “creators” who are creating derivative fanfic, fan art, or game mods, and then hosting the creations on platforms like DeviantArt and YouTube, running ads and thus making an income off of Nintendo’s intellectual property without any form of compensation. These “creators” do not take the time to reach to Nintendo to ask if they can use Nintendo’s creations and create these pieces, and then through an upfront fee or royalties sharing any income from the ads, patronage, donations, etc. that show on the video or page hosting their “creations”. Or they are using Nintendo’s trademarks to promote themselves and spread their names, thus increasing their brand name—again, off the back of Nintendo yet without compensating them in any shape, manner, or form.
It’s not fair to put Nintendo into a reactionary defense to have to sniff out these “creators” and petition the platform hosting the content to take down the material.
It’s one thing when teenagers write in their journals, or sketch on their art pads, create little pieces deriving from a book they just read, a cartoon or movie they just watched—definitely not profiting in any way, not making a name for themselves, nothing. Not all kids are so creative to invent their own little worlds; but they’re not profiting off it somehow.
Nintendo has to do what they can to protect their copyrights and protect their profits. Out of the big three game makers, they are the smallest—and video games is pretty much their sole income. (Microsoft and Sony have a large and diversified income, being in a variety of markets, so they are more protected from copyright theft hurting their bottom line.) Nintendo has an obligation to their shareholders to undertake whatever means necessary to protect what ultimately provides them their income and profit.
The “creators” are the ones abusing the fair use doctrine, not Nintendo. It’s one thing to take snippets of another’s work to critique, comment, investigate, educate—and when it’s only snippets, not stealing large amounts of another’s intellectual property for personal gain and profit. While I embed YouTube videos, quote others’ articles or posts, and whatever when creating my blog posts, everything either links to the original content, is a small snippet of another’s piece—I don’t profit from this blog, I am not working hard at all to create a “brand name”.
But what do I know? I only play games if they’re on iOS…
