The Copyright Disaster that Almost Killed Zelda
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- The Legend of Zelda series is one of Nintendo's most beloved series. But, right near the end of the first game's development for the NES, the developers encountered a problem they called "The Copyright Incident". Let us find out what this incident was!
Follow me for updates! - / thomasgdocs
NOTE: Parts of this story may have been dramatised/expanded upon for narrative effect. This video is not a substitute for original research.
Sources
- www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2016/...
- shmuplations.com/kojikondo/
- web.archive.org/web/200702212... - เกม
Bro my guy pulled an all nighter to quickly make a title theme... Little did he know it would be one of the most iconic ones yet
Scott Alfred I love you
U gonna edit to say thx for the likes it's a nice thing to say because people could feel like no one cares about them its just a nice thing also some people that know people care about them still could be thankful about it and give them a boost
@@breezycheeseable what?
Brianna Miller you good?
Brianna Miller bro you ok 👌
The copyright incident. Sounds like Nintendo every other week when a new fan project is released.
Lasky Labs Shots fired.
Nintendo,please stop deleting fan projects to put your own bullshit,admit that you're just stealing their ideas while getting a fifth of the likeability of the original project.
@@lorelo. "Stealing their ideas" Can you prove that!?
@@viniciusmonado8205 They cant actually legally take stuff from fan artistry, regardless of IP. Many game creation studios have had this problem and matpat talked about it on game theory
JV OBJECTION, my client Nintendo has every right to take it down, even tho it deleted my favorite fan game
"The Copyright Incident"
*Cue Ace Attorney theme
th-cam.com/video/KKPui_i4Zfg/w-d-xo.html
@@ThomasGameDocs Well played 😂
@@AaronDanarajF I'm sorry, I can't help myself. Here is a subtle correction:
''The Copyright Turnabout''
*Cue Ace Attorney theme
@@daphnelariviere5043 OH MY GOD! WHY DID I NOT THINK OF THAT? ITS AMAZING 😂
@@AaronDanarajF THANK YOU I APPRECIATE IT TOO😂
Yeah i would be confused too if i had to work with "life fountains" "fanfare" and
*"S P A R K L Y"*
sparkly is the key
@@realperson9951 Y E S
Well, in Japanese, vague descriptors and onomatopoeia often transcend the senses you're expecting them to be used with to describe a feeling.
Like, what the hell is a "fluffy time"?
@@CODMarioWarfare Hmmm. That's a neat way of putting it! I can't figure out words to describe such a feeling but I can imagine sounds and feelings that would explain it.
i can work with sparkly.. but first you must give me twinkly. yes, you, bring us smooth.
I'm glad they actually had to re-write a theme song, because while Bolero is a great classical piece, it doesn't scream Legend of Zelda. The title theme we ended up getting, definitely screams Legend of Zelda, and that sense of wanting to explore a large and immersive world!
The reason the piece we got screams LoZ is because its what was used and therefore is Zelda lol😂
@@bnbnism Haha yeah true, I didn't word this correctly. What I should have said is that if they used Bolero, it would have reminded us of Bolero, it already exists. But with this original composition, we associate it with Zelda straight away.
You can hear the resemblance in parts of Bolero though. I.e. the main melody and the snare drum/marching motif. Not sure what part of Bolero they were going to use - it starts out really soft and takes a long time to get going. Whereas the Zelda title music hits you with that violin sound right away which works a lot better for a title screen IMO. So I’d say the final product was inspired by Bolero, but morphed into an original song that probably worked out better of course because it was tailor made for the role.
VisualWarp actually, the nes version of the Zelda theme start really slow and about 30 on hit that fanfare. I think nowadays is more common to hear the sense arrangement, that start really epic from the first second.
Andres Ulloa Bolero of Fire from Ocarina of Time sounds a lot like it tho
Link survived Ganondorf's rage every time they fought. But the one who was this close to kill him was a musician who had died years before he was even born
@Oshabot 16 Maybe we have shared interests
Oshabot 16 kkkkkkkk
@@isaacmoraesdornelasdesouza3314 Brazilian, bro?
@@sauloalves7366 yes. my family is from minas
@@isaacmoraesdornelasdesouza3314 Haha, aí é foda.
Imagine being the legal person at Nintendo:
"oh, is that Bolero on the title screen? Nice!"
"Yeah, the composer passed on 50 some years ago, and the song works for the 5 seconds most players will hear it."
"Neeh… umm... Actually... about that..." *pushes glasses*
sorry mate, its actually a few weeks off, this is illegal and instead of just delaying the game for a few weeks, were gonna need you to pull out an all nighter
Wow, the bois who copyright everyone left and right have actually experienced copyright
to be fair they were strict on them selves and completely re did it the moment they noticed they could be infringing. they gat jerk morals but they hold them true
Tbf the people up top were entirely different
they don't because they change the music before the realease of the game, so. No Copyright for them :)
It's like they respect copyrighted content and want to hold that standard. It's their fucking content
DANUTERCISD yeah, have you watched the video on Mario?? Nintendo quite clearly ripped off multiple tunes. Fucking frauds.
It's funny how adversity and time restraints can be both a blessing and a curse to the creative process. If you just sat down and gave Kondo all the time in the world to compose a piece I doubt he'd have come up with the iconic and beloved one we got.
"I really like that opening song. It's sort of like music in a spaghetti western film"
Shigeru miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto 1986*
403 Forbidden
the way he looks at the camera
Oh man, 50 years on a copyright. Those were the days.
I'm glad that the theme turned out great. A good deal of a game's autmophere is in the music. Especially the older NES, SNES, and Game Boy games, where graphics were limited to just pixels.
Now isn't copyright something like 120 years after the death of the original owner, +15 years additional per rerelease.
And don't get me started on Europe's copyright artical that is going to cause trouble when it goes into effect. Bah!
Ugh yeah, it's super worrying. I just hope it doesn't end up affecting the internet too drastically...
@@Pikmini
*Screen goes blank*
"Your connection has been lost."
Actually video game graphics are still limited to pixels, even nowadays - it's just that the resolution and the graphical processing technology has gotten better.
Today, copyright is "until Disney no longer exists".
@@renakunisaki And they will always exist, even after the end of time.
Man it's a treat how much u have been uploading
Haha, to be honest, I'm a little surprised myself!
You were first
@Luke Henry so?
Isaac Falz Ayo the pizza here
Even Nintendo wanted to use old creative works, despite their rampage on the internet against youtube, fangames, and abandonware.
Nintendo wanted to use old work that they thought was public domain. And after learning that it was in fact not public domain they decided not to use it even though it caused them some trouble. They respected the law and the original creator even though it was only one month until it would be okay to use the music. And today they just demand the same respect for their work, don't they? I don't see anything wrong with that. Or is Nintendo rampaging against people who use public domain works?
TH-cam is the one thing they've mostly stopped rampaging against!
@@coastersplus nah. talk about modding their hardware and that video will be gone fast
@@schmebulock4567 Actually Nintendo copied Disney work. Link is base off Peter Pan
They thought it was public domain, that's different from wanting to steal. They just didn't realize they slightly missed the public domain time.
The dungeon music was actually a very late addition to the game. There are prototype versions of the game where all dungeons use the theme song from Ganon's Castle.
Ironic!! This video talks about being one month too early, yet you can easily tell the similarity of the dungeon theme to April by: Deep Purple about 2 minutes into the song
2:26
"plus the occasional voice clip"
*random screaming noises*
Wait wait wait
That song Boléro was actually used in the Digimon Adventure series, when a Digimon breaks loose into the real world.
You're telling me that this would've been used as the title theme for Zelda?!
Yup, I guess so! Small world, huh?
@@Random1567 damn boi
But idk, somehow doesn't fit the vibe for me
The title made it seem much more dramatic than what actually happened lol
0:55 i think giving this kind of direction is good because you give the Artist enough freedom to create something unbound like the music that was created for zelda
I never understood why they didn't just delay the game for the copyright to expire.
From what I understand, the launch date of the Famicom Disc System was pretty much set in stone, and Zelda was to be the big launch title. If they delayed it, then the disc system would be left without a "killer app". Though if you're SEGA then you can move a hardware launch around as much as you want...
Imagine giving up millions of dollars in revenue because your composer couldn’t compose ‘title’ music. That’s why.
And of course, it wouldn't have expired in other countries by then anyway due to a difference in laws.
That clinches it. We need a spaghetti Western Zelda with six-guns instead of swords.
What I think we need is to walk the mile BotW was to afraid to walk, and actually add real RPG elements.
Like the hidden village.
Yes. Hyrule’s the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Gerudo Desert is Southern Nevada/Arizona, Zora’s Domain is New Orleans through to the Florida Panhandle, Kakariko is Minneapolis, and Rito Village is Kansas City and the Gorons are freed/runaway slaves turned Miners and Mountain Men in the Rockies.
The master gun, the big goron shotgun
The Wisdom, The Courage, and The Power
1 Month: I'm about to end these men's whole careers
Hahaha. I also loved the piece, then Miyamoto compared the Zelda theme to a Spaghetti Western.. like.. WAT? Haha
I remember as a very young kid, after spending sometimes hours in a dungeon lost around, getting out of it, seeing the broad daylight, adventure music kicking in... it felt so epic, encouraging and relieving that it would instantly replenish back the depleted energies to go find and explore towards the next dungeon.
Can’t get more epic than that.
Can't wait for when you hit 100k+! This channel is going to blow up soon, and I can't wait!
4:50 this is actually the main cord for ocarina of time
This is probably one of the few times where copyright actually helped. We wouldn't have the iconic Zelda theme if they didn't have to redo the title music at the last minute.
Gasp! Not arpeggios! ~faints~
lol On a related note, The Animals version of House Of The Rising Sun is the scariest piece of music ever written.
4:54 this one sounds like the Ocarina Of Time time theme but 8bit version
Exactly! Sounds very similar to me too.
Variants of that music has been used throughout the Zelda series (as well as Mario) for flutes and ocarinas, so it made sense to reference it in the game that spotlights the ocarina.
Sound like something from undertale
Jakeandteo No.
Wow, I never realized it until now
Your calm voice is so good for making documentary video x)
Haha, maybe I should apply for a job at the BBC or something?
I cant get over how much Maurice Ravel looks like Draco Malfoy
4:54 It reminds me Ocarina of Time theme :O
More like super mario bros 3.
@@malik87breaker it’s both the Zelda warp whistle noise, the Mario 3 warp whistle noise, and a large part of the melody of the OoT title screen.
Really love these videos where you cover obscure game history alongside with your game docs!!!! Thank you!!!
That's great to hear! Thanks for your kind comment!
My God, how is Kondo ALWAYS skirting the bounds of major controversies? This wasn't this last time he had to redo a theme at the last minute
This is super interesting from a composer perspective. Seeing where people get their influences, what sounds we’re used. Saw patterns, square waves, pulse and so on
Excellent introduction and writing. Said everything we needed to know in less than 30 seconds.
I need more videos from you! Gimme some juicy classic stories! Love your channel!
Dude pulled an all-nighter, just for a game. And he ended up making it perfect. What a legend
2:08 it sounded like a SLAP
You know, I always thought that Kondo made up the entire Zelda theme in a day because they found out last minute that they couldn't use Bolero, but now I know that he had at least created the overworld theme before this, meaning he had something to work from. It's still a major accomplishment, but not exactly the same as coming up with one of gaming's most iconic themes from scratch in a single day. In any case, based on what I thought I knew about this story, I had been under the impression that if Bolero hadn't been under copyright still, we'd be listening to that in all future Zelda games instead of what we know of as the Zelda theme. But it's hard to know for sure. The overworld theme did exist, so I could see it becoming the music that the series was known for later on, much like Mario became synonymous with the music you heard while playing.
Speaking of which, the funniest thing about this is that I remember a number of NES games that didn't have title music at all, like Super Mario Bros for example. Other games shared the same title music, like various sports games. But I guess Zelda was something special, so they felt they had to go the extra mile with the music to get the feel they were going for.
Great video man!
Keep it up, and with your content quality I can ALMOST guarantee that your channel SHOULD blow up!
4:54 who knew that would be the inspiration for the “ocarina of time theme”
Gosh darn I love this channel.
Great video, as always. I never heard of this story before, but I gotta say the final version we ended getting for the intro is so iconic to me that I'm glad it went down that way. Even to this day I feel like grabbing a sword and dangerously swinging it around my head whenever I hear it. I'll paint one of my socks green, slap that bugger onto my head, and go for an adventure!
Keep up the amazing content buddy, don't burn yourself out, and good luck with your channel growth! :^)
3:10 what a legend
It clearly almost killed link in the thumbnail, not zelda, you fool
And by extension...?
He's talking about that video game franchise...
ドーナツDottu woooosh
The whole franchise was almost killed because of a copyright issue from a song?! What?! And the Ocarina of Time title theme sounds like a better version of a similar tune from an entirely different series... lol
Oh, and I got my desire for real ocarinas from Zelda ;)
I like when the dungeon theme plays when you're low on hearts and you get the health beeping warning going along with the theme
HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE 100K SUBS YET?!?! This content is so good.
Now he have.
300.000 take it or leave it
Insane how game music used to only have the option of writing with such a limited number of sounds. And now we can have fully orchestrated numbers so easily on games.
I admire your editing Style!
It reminds me of clipart book
It's so unique and it fits the information you're giving off in your videos
Shoulda just said he was sampling. You can steal whatever shit you want if you call it sampling.
Exactly. Lofi hip hop musicians usually "sample" math rock.
Vaporwave in a nutshell
still have to clear the sample if you want to use it commercially
Oh hey look a music elitist who doesnt know about how sampling works
@@harrylane4 You're not wrong, but 20 people apparently found it funny.
Nice video as always, also a very fun story about Zelda!
Thanks!
I’ve always loved the music in Zelda. Every track feels distinct and feels like it’s own thing. Hell, even the title music from Zelda 1 and the overworld theme from the same game feel different. The title screen gets me hyped for a great adventure. The faster pace of the overworld theme keeps that feeling going, while also adding some energy.
I’ve played.... probably about 3/4 of all Zelda games. I’ve got 3 favourites. Oddly enough, from entirely different eras.
Zelda 2’s temple theme
The dark world theme from LttP
Gerudo Valley theme from OoT
.... these ones always get me excited to hear them. Great stuff.
This is fascinating. I can't imagine Zelda with that final iconic theme. You have to wonder how the main theme may have subconsciously played a part in all the games development cycles, or how tracks could have changed if the other theme had been used. I think the next games would have possibly have been more different than we think with just this one change.
One of the most iconic video game songs in history was made over night funny how things happen
This is why I stay up til at least 1 am every night. All great work comes from tiredness
IIRC dragon quest theme was written in ~1 day and FF theme was written in 15 minutes
Except it wasn't really, not in this case. The title screen was an arrangement of the overworld theme, which he'd already made with more time to refine it. Good work at the 11th hour, but the hardest part was already done.
I love your lighthearted and kind of silly humor. It’s very charming :)
Your content is amazing! You deserve more subs
Dude! your videos are sooo good. Liking and subscribing now
Brilliant. Great video. Subscribed
“Melodramatic” more like click bait but one thing is true. The end result was better because of it.
High Quality Content. Your videos go into subjects that are not delved into by other gaming channels and I appreciate that I have not seen a Top Ten list in my feed from your channel. Original Tone. Original Topics. Thomas recieves 1500 XP.
The legend of zelda music is EPIC am i the only one who always listens to the legend of zelda while studying
No way man I listen to it ALL the time. Check out my playlist
The opening title of LoZ is my favorite ever. It’s so epic. I love this story of how it came to be made. Thank you!
DPCM channel could be looped with a short sample. However it didn't have enough of a pitch resolution to use it as a sampled music instrument. Additionally the loop length has to be 16n+1 samples which in combination with a limited number of playback speeds in samples per second makes hitting the desired pitch on a looped sample even harder.
you do amazing work
I haven't played the majority of Zelda Games but I've watched a lot of videos on the matter and so far, my absolute favorite piece of music is the title theme of The Wind Waker. I even learned it on the flute, I absolutely love it.
The funny thing is that the Bolero copyright is still disputed in numerous court cases in France, don't really know where are they now (specially with COVID) but it was still in trial in 2018-2019
My top three favorite Zelda compositions; Ballad of the Goddess, Midna’s Lament, and Link & Zelda’s Duet (Spirit Tracks). Yes, two of those are from the least popular Zelda games ever. They are great despite their flaws, and have some INCREDIBLE compositions in them.
4:00 The only thing that even comes close to the menace of an arpeggio is a 4 beat rest
Great video!
The original title theme that was to be used made it in for ocarina of time's title theme
I was just thinking that
No, the original title theme was Bolero, which Nintendo never used. The one you heard (the title theme from Ocarina of Time) was used in the original Zelda. You´re confusing the title theme with a random Zelda soundtrack
I've certainly been a fan of Ravel's Bolero, going so far as to learn it on an 8 string guitar! But I'm so glad he composed an original theme instead. Problems often can lead to signature and inspirational solutions
Why not Kirby? He also appeared on every Nintendo CONSOLE ever made so...
Also, i have a lot of *S* *U* *P* *E* *R* In video game's
Like...
1) Kirby SUPER Star (SNES)
2) SUPER mario Bros, 2 & 3 (NES) New SUPER mario bros (Wii/WiiU)
3) SUPER mario bros VS. Donkey Kong (3DS)
4) SUPER man (N64)
5) SUPER Mario Bros (DS)
6) SUPER Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
7) & more games that i forgotten the names of...
Super Bomberman?
@@silver5798 Super BomberMan, i used to play the Xbox 360 version of it, but not anymore😒
Super metroid
Not virtual boy
Super Mario may have been named after things like Superman, who would have been popular during the 80s on account of the movies. When Super Mario got big it became part of the brand, which is why every Mario game since has been Super.
Most of the other ones had SUPER added because they were on the SUPER FAMICOM (or the S in SNES).
Ravel's Bolero is such a bad idea for the title screen.... knowing the bolero from before and/or hearing it in so many other places in the media in general, it wouldn't have had the impact it actually achieved. I'm so thankful for this incident that actually made the game much more memorable...and showed once again the power of pressure on a desperate guy pulling an all-nighter. Genius, Mr. Kondo.
This was Bolero's way of telling Kondo to trust in his abilities and make your own title music.
It worked because it forced Kondo to make one of the most iconic song of all time.
I honestly thought the warp whistle sound was heard first in Super Mario Bros. 3 - but learned something new. Neat :)
1:43 so that's what esc means on my keyboard!
What did you think it meant?
@@sootyve3958 escape
@@happieplantnl same lol
Thanks, Ravel, for hanging out that last month.
honestly im glad they had this issue, the final title music straight up SLAPPED
1:51 its called a squarewave and sawtooth wave
Square wave is synonymous with pulse wave, and sawtooth waves use right triangles, while triangle waves use isosceles triangles, which gives a much smoother, duller sound compared to the sharp sound of a sawtooth. The NES uses triangle waves, not sawtooths.
Ok thanks for telling me i’ll remember it next time.
Here’s another copyright disaster:
Nintendo asked for what’s people’s favorite song on Twitter and then they copyrighted every song posted
The menu select theme from Wind waker HD is my fav. We got the special Legend of Zelda Wii U and still play it to this day :).
The way Thomas talks is so calming
Yo this sounds like the ocarina of time title screen music 4:48
I went to the symphony of goddesses concert when I was younger and on a projector screen came out Shigeru Miyamoto and told us about how they had to make a special chip I think, it was seven years ago, for the tururu accompaniment of the title theme
Although it wasn’t in any of the earlier games, Gerudo Valley has been my ABSOLUTE favourite piece of LoZ music, followed very closely by the original theme and Zelda’s lullaby.
5:13 Actually They Were A Year Away
Ravel Died In 1937 So 50 Years Later Would Be 1987 While The Game Was Released In 1986
Now I want a Zelda series set in the Wild West 6:07
The song of storms windmill theme is easily my favorite. Catchy and also paradoxical in nature.
You really deserve more subscribers.
5:49 so that's where the tune for "the realm of memories" comes from in The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition.
EDIT: So scrolling down the comments, I see NO ONE talking about this.
Funny story: Bolero was actually the inspiration for the famous Gerudo Valley music. So it's quite amusing that Gerudo Valley almost became the main theme for Legend of Zelda, got shelved, and then resurfaced later as the most popular song in all of Zelda.
Gerudo valley theme is my favourite. Along with song of storms, Bolero of fire and observatory theme.
Way late, but this was excellently done.
I like that the warp whistle is the oot title screen music
The recorder “whistle” song can be heard in the shrine song of the shrines in Breathe of the wild.
I love the paper look to your stuff, could you give me some editing tips?
Hmm, I'm not sure I can think of anything in particular... I checked out your Wii Sports video and it looks pretty great! To be honest, the whole paper aesthetic in my videos doesn't involve me doing much more than using papery backgrounds and stuff. Beyond that window-dressing, it's not hugely different to, say, Game Theory for example. I would say just keep on editing stuff if you enjoy it, and you'll definitely learn as you go along! (Sorry that's not super helpful but it is 100% the best way to really improve, from my experience anyway)
@@ThomasGameDocs No, that's great! Thank you very much!
Casually makes 8bit Bolero music for his TH-cam video, no big deal. Jeez you're a talented dude.
As a Zelda fan old enough to have played the original to death, I already knew the main part of this story from other videos I'd previously watched on the subject, but you went into so much more detail about the rest of the music development that I was still very much entertained. One of these days I'm going to put aside the time to play through the Famicom version on my Switch, the music is just so much better, and as an old fan, I don't need to be able to read the text anymore. :P I'd sub just off this video if I wasn't already. :)
0:10 "Sorry Virtual Console", and also "Sorry, Wii-U"
Breath of the Wild
Also Twilight Princess HD
For a company that strikes down fan projects with Copyright Infringement, they don't like it when the same thing could have easily happened to them during their Arcade and NES years.
Oh and thanks to Disney (who has blatantly used Public Domain stories for profit and even Plagiarized Kimba the White Lion when they made the film The Lion King and claimed it was their original work), many of these copyright music laws are being extended longer after the original composer dies.
0:50 COPYRIGHT SFX FROM ACE ATTORNEY
I think the luck of not being able to use Ravel’s Bolero can’t be overstated. The LoZ theme is, well, legendary.