Nintendo Shuts Down Popular National Geographic-Style Pokémon Fan Videos

A fashionable Pokémon YouTuber has reported seeing his transmission wiped retired by copyright claims from Nintendo.

PokéNational Geographic creator Elious has said he's received dozens of copyright strikes connected his YouTube channel, claiming that his fan-made animations infringe connected Nintendo's characters and imagery.

The channel, which has been progressive since 2023 and amassed much than 100,000 subscribers, is wide known among Pokémon fans for its National Geographic-style shorts that amusement Pokémon taxon successful their earthy habitats. Narrated similar a real-life quality documentary, these clips person spawned countless imitators, and diagnostic Pokémon doing the kinds of things you don't usually spot successful a Pokémon game: specified arsenic hunting and eating each other. Now, Elious' enactment is being hunted — by Nintendo's ineligible team.

"I person 7 days until my transmission is deleted. Nintendo of America has copyright striked truthful galore of my videos," Elious said successful a video uploaded to different channel. "I can't truly combat this. It each seems legitimate, it does look to travel from the existent Nintendo of America."

Here's an illustration from the channel, reuploaded by a instrumentality to societal media:

Come connected PokèNational Geographic! pic.twitter.com/8Qat3VlXS9

YouTube operates with a three-strike strategy wherever copyright complaints tin beryllium contested, though 2nd and 3rd infractions effect successful your transmission efficaciously being frozen portion this process is ongoing.

"I don't cognize what to bash with it," Elious continued. "I'm downloading worldly of course, I person each the videos myself but I'll ne'er beryllium capable to station them again. And I'll ne'er beryllium capable to usage this transmission again. Over 100,000 subscribers, implicit 3 years of making these animations, and it's each going to beryllium gone successful 7 days."

Describing Nintendo's copyright ailment successful much detail, Elious said helium had received informing that his video utilized contented from "Pokémon video games, including the audio-visual works, characters and imagery."

"I'm not adjacent perfectly definite what that means," Elious countered. "Because each Pokémon-related YouTuber uses the visuals of Pokémon. I don't usage the video games — the astir I usage is the audio, the sprite-like roars, but that's nether 3 seconds and falls nether just use."

Elious says his transmission has helped him unafraid enactment and internships based disconnected of his animation skills — which present each look destined to spell offline.

"I've worked connected a batch of antithetic projects that I've wanted to amusement radical and speech about, and I privation to marque a batch of caller stuff," Elious said, successful the decision of his video statement. "So I conjecture this is my accidental successful a way. But uh, I've been Elious of Elious Entertainment, and PokéNational is over. It's over."

IGN has asked Nintendo for comment.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social