Nintendo's Policy on Fair Use and Copyright?

HylianVillager

HylianVillager

Member
Okay so I'm kind of confused. I want to talk about mainly Nintendo games on my channel; reviews, theories upcoming releases and the likes but I don't know if Nintendo have any rules that say you can't make videos about them even though I'm about 80% sure the content I want to make counts under fair use.
I want to be able to monetize these types of videos as well but I don't know if I'm allowed to since the games aren't owned by myself under copyright. Since I'm criticizing through reviews, educating through theories and reporting through talking about gaming news does that mean fair use covers me and I'm allowed to make/monetize the videos or are Nintendo allowed to protect everything completely?
I also want to use images/videos from Nintendo to help get the point across but not throughout the whole video, would this be okay or not?
I read their legal terms and copyright rules and it says they own the rights to "video game systems, game titles, characters, game software, graphics, artwork, and screen shots". As a Zelda fan my name include "Hylian" which is based on the character of the goddess "Hylia" in the game; does this mean I have to change my name since they technically own the rights to it? This is probably a silly question but I don't want to be too sure.

Hope that all made sense,
~Hylian Villager
 
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I would say you're alright based on a few things.

1) The ID system in youtube is almost entirely audio based. A gameplay can be different for everyone but the sounds they make are always the same. This is also largely due to the music and movies being illegally uploaded. I doubt Nintendo would ever see your username.
2) There are some precedents around youtube right now that seem to show that Nintendo doesn't have an iron grasp on their content. Look at the angry gamer, or the game theorists. They use stuff like Mario in their intro scene and I doubt they would just risk it.
3) Im fairly certain Nintendos latest farce with the 60/40 split for revenue focuses on gameplay videos (let's plays, walkthroughs, online multiplayer etc). If they ever tried to take a cut from media/reviewers a lot more people would get involved in claiming they are ethically wrong. You're about as fair use as fair use can get.

All just my opinion.
 
CaptainSauce said:
I doubt Nintendo would ever see your username
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Well I actually emailed them about it because I didn't want them to turn around and sue me (regardless of how unlikely that is). They haven't replied yet but I expect they'll probably ask me to change it since I've now confessed it to them.
CaptainSauce said:
You're about as fair use as fair use can get.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reassuring me, I thought so too. So just to clarify I can make videos about Nintendo without them getting annoyed and I can monetize that content as well?
 
Im in no way giving legal advice, but as far as I can tell yes, under free use laws you can monetize videos and Nintendo can't do anything about it (assuming you arent using long game play clips).

I doubt Nintendo will even reply to your email. Most of these big companies are nearly impossible to communicate with.
 
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