For those who like to create videos and/or content to share online, Nintendo has notoriously been one of, if not the most, difficult companies to deal with. As an example, on our latest Bitcast we used a fraction of a 10 year old official Nintendo trailer while discussing Skyward Sword and we were copyrighted within hours. Well, it looks like Nintendo is finally taking steps to join the rest of the gaming community in 2018.
As of December, Nintendo is officially shutting down the Nintendo Creators Program and thus allowing any content creators to publish Nintendo related content. Naturally, there are caveats:
- You may monetize your videos and channels using the monetization methods separately specified by Nintendo. Other forms of monetization of our intellectual property for commercial purposes are not permitted.
- We encourage you to create videos that include your creative input and commentary. Videos and images that contain mere copies of Nintendo Game Content without creative input or commentary are not permitted. You may, however, post gameplay videos and screenshots using Nintendo system features, such as the Capture Button on Nintendo Switch, without additional input or commentary.
- You are only permitted to use Nintendo Game Content that has been officially released, or from promotional materials officially released by Nintendo (such as product trailers or Nintendo Directs).
- If you want to use the intellectual property of a third party, you are responsible for obtaining any necessary third-party permissions.
- You are not permitted to imply or state that your videos are officially affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo.
- We reserve the right to remove any content that we believe is unlawful, infringing, inappropriate, or not in line with these Guidelines.
Our Take
It’s about time. Nintendo is incredibly slow to change their policies to adapt to the industry, but this is at least a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can now begin sharing more Nintendo based content on the site and our channel. Stay tuned!