Nintendo Shuts Down Fan-Made Zelda Movie

[Therumancer]

The first thing that springs into my mind is to wonder how The Escapist has avoided a brawl with Nintendo given some of it's features. TWO of their regular running features "There Will Be Brawl", and "Doomsday Arcade" both frequently make use of liscenced characters, many of them owned by Nintendo. Oftentimes the portrayals are fairly negative, and contrary to the perception one would get from the games they come from. Does The Escapist have a special agreement/permit from the copyright holders or something?

That said I think this is fairly messed up, and akin to both what happened to the Warhammer 40k "Damnatus" movie, and attempts by both Lucasfilm and Paramount at various times to kill Star Wars and Star Trek fansites so as to force people to pay for access to similar material on their official sites.

I have an idea for the movie companies, video game companies, etc... why don't you guys go find some Bounty Hunter, pay him to go around anonymously to conventions and video tape and photograph all the copyright violations, like people cosplaying in home made (as opposed to purchused costumes). Report them all to the authorities and insist that they arrest all these people, or serve cease and desist orders. Then your Bounty-Dude can run around with his camea and be there to video tape your harassment as they are arrested or merely have their dreams crushed. The show could be called like "Fans $uck" or something like that, and the show itself and it's advertising sales will cover the cost... I mean it's simply a way of profiteering off of the kind of fan harassment and dream shattering you are up to now. Obviously supporting a healthy and creative fandom community is no longer seen as being nessicary.

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I will also say I find it ironic that game companies can find the time and resources to go after something like this, but they can't even invest an effort into a bit of political activisim against guys like Michael Atkinson. I guess that shouldn't surprise me though, because in their own ways I guess companies like Nintendo (despite currently being 'safe' for mostly being family friendly) and Mr. Atkinson are kindred spirits when it comes to censorship. The Nintendo shareholders probably get together with Atkinson and his supporters to collectively polish each other's jackboots, and discuss how they can best spread misery to those who get really invested in their favorite fantasy properties. One wants to ruin the properties themselves with censorship, and the other wants to take a stab right at the fans. Differant approaches, but I'm sure there is plenty of overlap in technique, as the end result is the same: fanoy tears, and sickness and blight through the medium and subculture.

Perhaps one day soon a Nintendo CEO and Michael Atkinson will have a "Eureka" moment and decide to solve the problem once and for all. A video game themed "Theme Park" will be opened in Australia and free tickets will be distributed to fan boys. Once there smiling attendants dressed as well known video game characters (with jackboots lovingly hand polished to a black mirrorlike sheen) will gently direct the fanboys into the attractions which double as gas chambers, or involved seats and "carts" that trap the occupant and transform into "Saw" like torture devices. Taking pages from the SS, nothing will be wasted after the mass murder, organs will be harvested for sale, gold teeth removed, and scraps of clothing recycled. Where Atkinson is a "public servant" Nintendo is still out to make money after all...

A "final solution" to the problem of gamers and fanboys they both apparently so dearly hate. No more Zelda fan movies, no more danger of violent video games. Just a quiet, blood soaked plastic statue of Mario sitting in the middle of an abandoned theme park in rural australia...

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Okay, okay... that IS going too far, I get carried away when I run with something. For those that read so far the bottom point here is that this is ridiculous. I mean cripes people, Nintendo didn't even blink an eye apparently in response to the video game character Strip Show "The Escapist" mattered. They had bloody Link (as a girl) and Samus Aran involved in live action soft core porn, and were selling tickets!

 

[Jared]

Damn. Never got a chance to see it ><

 

[darthcendiarygrenade]

Fuckers! I was about to start watching it!
P.S. Bet they'd have a field day if they found out about There Will Be Brawl.

I'd be surprised if they didn't already know, The Escapist is fairly well known now.

Also: MovieBob! If you get ahold of this thing and have some time on your hands...

 

[PokeMog]

Dammit Nintendo, I was looking forward to seeing that movie. It looked interesting.

Also, why shoot down THAT project when there are thousands upon thousands of other crap on the web violating the copyright of their characters? Why not kill every gaming webcomic on the internet? Why not kill Newgrounds? Why not kill Fanfiction.net? This is ridiculous.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

ole nintendo wants your money and will not let you express individuality when making videos like these

 

[MBergman]

It's a shame, but they must have known that this is how it might turn out. They still went with it though, I take my hat off! Though it's not THAT much of a dick move really. When you go as far as showing it on film festivals and such, it wouldn't be a stretch for people to mistake it as an official product. Somehing Nintendo probably doesn't want, in case they are planning to make something similar themselves someday, at least I would want the sheets to be clean in my own franchise.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Spoiler: Can you really blame Nintendo? I cannot. And this quote/post explains why. Think about it people.

Well I can't help but side with Nintendo on this one. While that trailer didn't look too bad, I've still been saying for some time now that there's nothing worse for a franchise then it's fans, specifically fan tributes. I think their biggest mistake was submitting it to actual film festivals and movie theaters, by doing that it could've looked, from Nintendo's stand point, that they were trying to profit from this film.
I know my biggest fear, if I were to create something that became a huge franchise, would be the fans fucking it up with their own twisted, misguided interpretations.

Spoiler: And another smart post. Again, think about it if you were Nintendo. Not a make believe person.

Ummm, if you're going to spend 4 years making a feature length film surely the FIRST thing you do is send an e-mail over to Nintendo?

Serves them right if they didn't sort out the legal side back in '04 rather than now.

Spoiler: Why should you be mad at Nintendo. They are not to be blamed for God sake. These three know what they are talking about

To be quite honest, this is not unexpected from Nintendo. I would blame the creators for not looking up their rights first BEFORE spending 4 years on a project that was always going to get pulled.

Nintendo owns the rights to the characters, the mythos, the game engine, AND the scenarios of all the Legend of of Zelda games. This movie appears to be a straight adaption of the Ocarina of Time scenario. More importantly, it doesn't make itself clear enough that it is NOT affiliated with Nintendo at all. The move from the internet to actual film festivals and movie theatres would have brought these issues to light, and urged Nintendo to act as they have done.

Nintendo are simply following their policy on all their IPs. This is not new, whether you agree with Nintendo or not. There's no new decisions made here, no new precedents, and so forth. Nintendo are treating this like every other unlicensed use of there IP that makes it from internet fandom to potential commercial use.

Plus, don't get confused by the term non-profit. You cannot legally comercially sell unlicensed materials in any way, even to recoup production costs. The material can sometimes be used under the Fair Use laws if it is presented for free. Presentations are also included, so if the theatres were charging admission, even to recoup the costs of heating and lighting used during the film, this would have been illegal, and urged Nintendo to move.

The other side of copyright law is that even if such material is presented for free, it should not cause a detriment to the income of the original IP holder using the properties. Thus, even if this was to be shown for free, it would still have been pulled should Nintendo plan on developing their own movie, and/or another game in the series. With the Legend of Zelda Wii in production, public viewing of this movie could very well have hampered sales of this impending title by providing a bad image of the Legend of Zelda series as a whole.

A lot of this requires proof, but Nintendo has long had a history of trying to nip these things in the bud before they get too far, typically when they first realise and get to assess the potential impact of the project. Nintendo said no, and the creators have complied - saves a long and costly court battle which Nintendo will inevitably win anyway.

Of course, using torrent sites and other intenet distribution methods to allow this production to be released for free would be a wonderful work around to the whole situation, and the best compromise. The creators get credit for their interpretation, while Nintendo still retains full control over the commercialization of the franchise...

Spoiler: The fourth post I'm quoting is another that makes sense. Nintendo is a company people

Looks awful. Perhaps Nintendo tried to kill it to prevent its own product (Zelda) from looking like a joke? I'm not against fanfic stuff, but it is after all, Nintendo's game, and if they don't want something like this floating around, that's their decision.

Spoiler: Thank you all. You five know that copyrighted stuff shouldn't be messed with

Wow, you guys are making Nintendo out to be Snidely Whipslash, tying some Zelda fans to the [Spirit] tracks for the sole purpose of being jerks. Nintendo is a business, and they have every right to protect their trademarks. That's it. Get over it.

The cast and crew would have been wise to keep their film on the net, rather than hitting the festivals and such. At the very least, they should have contacted Nintendo beforehand.

 

[Hapetiitti]

My respect towards Nintendo is gone.

 

[LordLink]

Ummm, if you're going to spend 4 years making a feature length film surely the FIRST thing you do is send an e-mail over to Nintendo?

Serves them right if they didn't sort out the legal side back in '04 rather than now.

 

[Bloodeye]

Have to side with nintendo here. When it starts showing in theaters and film festivals then its going a little further then just a fan-made tribute.

More importantly, since they allowed it to be released on the internet in the first place then anyone who really wants to see it will always be able to find it anyway.

 

[Jon Etheridge]

Although the trailer looked like shit I gotta admire these guys for their dedication. Kinda sad though when I think about all that time could have been put into something original that THEY had the rights to.

Hopefully these gents learned a thing or two from the experience and will use that to make something of their own.

 

[General_Qwetch]

they should just rename it to " the legend of the forrest boy" or something gawd
wish i could have seen it.....
or can i !

 

[Guy32]

ahhh, requiem for a dream makes anything better...


and seriously? The Zelda Formula has been the same for years, it's not like the new games will touch on anything that they haven't already. A little side-story will "spoil" the franchise.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Da_Vane]

To be quite honest, this is not unexpected from Nintendo. I would blame the creators for not looking up their rights first BEFORE spending 4 years on a project that was always going to get pulled.

Nintendo owns the rights to the characters, the mythos, the game engine, AND the scenarios of all the Legend of of Zelda games. This movie appears to be a straight adaption of the Ocarina of Time scenario. More importantly, it doesn't make itself clear enough that it is NOT affiliated with Nintendo at all. The move from the internet to actual film festivals and movie theatres would have brought these issues to light, and urged Nintendo to act as they have done.

Nintendo are simply following their policy on all their IPs. This is not new, whether you agree with Nintendo or not. There's no new decisions made here, no new precedents, and so forth. Nintendo are treating this like every other unlicensed use of there IP that makes it from internet fandom to potential commercial use.

Plus, don't get confused by the term non-profit. You cannot legally comercially sell unlicensed materials in any way, even to recoup production costs. The material can sometimes be used under the Fair Use laws if it is presented for free. Presentations are also included, so if the theatres were charging admission, even to recoup the costs of heating and lighting used during the film, this would have been illegal, and urged Nintendo to move.

The other side of copyright law is that even if such material is presented for free, it should not cause a detriment to the income of the original IP holder using the properties. Thus, even if this was to be shown for free, it would still have been pulled should Nintendo plan on developing their own movie, and/or another game in the series. With the Legend of Zelda Wii in production, public viewing of this movie could very well have hampered sales of this impending title by providing a bad image of the Legend of Zelda series as a whole.

A lot of this requires proof, but Nintendo has long had a history of trying to nip these things in the bud before they get too far, typically when they first realise and get to assess the potential impact of the project. Nintendo said no, and the creators have complied - saves a long and costly court battle which Nintendo will inevitably win anyway.

Of course, using torrent sites and other intenet distribution methods to allow this production to be released for free would be a wonderful work around to the whole situation, and the best compromise. The creators get credit for their interpretation, while Nintendo still retains full control over the commercialization of the franchise...

 

[fletch_talon]

I think companies like square and nintendo need to focus less on getting rid of fan made games and movies that are true to the spirit of the games, and spend more time focusing on getting rid of shitty fan-fiction in which every character suddenly decides they are and always have been a homosexual.

 

[Dr.Sean]

I think they were forced by Nintendo to say that.

 

[Stilt-Man]

Wow, you guys are making Nintendo out to be Snidely Whipslash, tying some Zelda fans to the [Spirit] tracks for the sole purpose of being jerks. Nintendo is a business, and they have every right to protect their trademarks. That's it. Get over it.

The cast and crew would have been wise to keep their film on the net, rather than hitting the festivals and such. At the very least, they should have contacted Nintendo beforehand.

 

[Kinguendo]

Spoiler: Unrealistic Interpretation

Nintendo: Whats that? Speak up boy! I cant hear you over your crying and my laughter!

Boy: It took us 4 years of our time and money... please... please...

Nintendo: You have 2 weeks to pack up your sh*t! Mario... get him out of my sight!

Thanks Nintendo, the only good that can come of this is now I can tell my friend that he was completely wrong when he said Nintendo is all about the fans and isnt a corporate machine like Microsoft and Sony.

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I am not a fan of the Zelda series but it still seems harsh.