The Pokémon Company Goes After Call of Duty YouTuber Over a 7-Year-Old Video
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It’s a known fact that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are devoted to the protection of their intellectual properties. The two giants have maintained strict policies about modding and emulating their games and have regulated content associated with them with an iron fist. However, it seems like they’ll go after years-old content with the same approach.
Recently, a famous Call of Duty (CoD) YouTuber revealed that his channel has received a copyright strike, and it’s all due to a 7-year-old video that featured modded Pokémon content.
Call of Duty YouTuber Receives Copyright Strike by The Pokémon Company
On 19th March, NoahJ456, a CoD creator with more than 5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted to X, telling their followers about a strike against their channel. The strike was directed to a video from seven years ago featuring a Pokémon mod that was popular at that time in Call of Duty. The YouTuber sent out a warning to other creators with videos featuring Pokémon mods, telling them to delete or unlist the content as soon as possible.
The strike, filed by The Pokémon Company International, targeted the video’s use of copyrighted characters. While Nintendo is known for its strict stance on its IP, the timing of the takedown is still strange. Many people have called this a case of Nintendo’s pettiness reaching extreme heights. Others have suggested that it’s simply a case of The Pokémon Company trying to be more protective of its copyrights.
The strike has caused fresh concern for other Pokémon-related content on YouTube. Popular creator Scared Almighty also expressed his opinion on the situation and issues for Pokémon content creators on the platform.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen The Pokémon Company cracking down to protect their franchise. In 2021, they issued DMCA’s for 397 fan-made Pokémon titles. That’s not all; in 2022, they also sent DMCA takedowns to Twitch Streamers for sharing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s end credit theme audio after finishing the game on stream. The strikes have slowed down recently. However, since the launch of Palworld earlier this year, Nintendo seems to be doubling down again.
