Remember those astonishingly enchanting scans taken from the Super Mario 64 guidebook, brimming with elaborate 3D models of each level that I covered last week? Alas, the mighty forces at Nintendo have chosen to exert their authority once again and have served the scan’s uploader (Dave Shevlin of Comfort Food Video Games) with a takedown notice.
In a declaration to Kotaku, Shevlin stated:
“Regrettably, archive.org dispatched to me their customary takedown notice email, informing me that Nintendo of America contested the copyright of the scan, and it was subsequently removed.
“Frankly, I would be inclined to dispute the validity of that and how Nintendo of America could have any connection to a Nintendo of Japan licensed Gem Books guide from 1995. However, I truly cannot contend with the Nintendo legal team in this matter. It is extremely disheartening.
“While I completely comprehend the significance of safeguarding one’s intellectual property and copyrights, I did not believe that by scanning and uploading a 27-year-old guide that is extremely out of circulation, I was causing any harm. Honestly, I contend that it benefits Nintendo while only adversely affecting those who are selling this guide for literal hundreds of dollars. All I desired was to disseminate my adoration for this remarkable guide and, to a greater extent, my love for the company.
“I am a novice in the video game preservation arena, but I cannot envision anything more dismal than the situation where a group of diligent individuals are investing their free time and money in painstakingly archiving and preserving history, while major corporations like Nintendo are not offering any assistance. In fact, they are actively impeding the progress.”
This is profoundly disappointing, but unfortunately, it is what has become anticipated from Nintendo. After all, the company has garnered quite a reputation for its stringent copyright policy over the years.
Other endeavors that have had to yield to Nintendo’s caprices include Pokémon Essentials, a toolkit that enabled users to design their own Pokémon adventures, and Super Mario 64 HD, a complimentary fan project that remastered the first level of the N64 game.
More recently, Nintendo has been targeting YouTube channels that stream soundtracks from its games.
Then, at the beginning of this month, videos showcasing the emulation of Nintendo consoles on Valve’s Steam Deck began mysteriously vanishing from YouTube.
