I apologize if some of the dialogue isn't quite as clear as it could be! I lost my voice and became quite sick after the first recording session, and so all the dialogue for this video is first-take only. Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy the video!
Since you asked -This video was fascinating. I think your law-based perspective is INVALUABLE in the gaming community , because i dont believe we've ever had someone with your breadth of legal knowledge discuss... well... ANYTHING in the gaming community. I have a funny feeling your going to unintentionally inspire alot of people to look into the legal side of these things, and attempt to find answers for questions we've been asking for years - which will, in-turn, inspire more people. TLDR; PLEASE keep making videos like this. The landscape of the gaming community - as a whole - has been lacking this kind of knowledge for AGES. I'm sure your going to do more then just survive making videos like this - I TRULY believe your going to thrive, and EXPLODE in popularity very "soon" - whether you like it or not. I also believe your going to inspire quite a few people - in more ways then one. Thank you for taking the time; and effort, in your busy life, to make this content. I/We appreciate it. 💯
You know Micheal Jackson getting brought up in this reminds me that Sonic 3 had a sticky legal history with his estate, to the point that we didn't get a rerelease of sonic 3 until 2022 when they removed his songs. I would love to see a video covering this.
Knowing now the threshold for japanese copyright law explains to me how araki hasn't been sued into oblivion by the music industry in Japan despite all his music reference in jojo and it also explains why the stand's names in the west HAVE to be change to even get a release here
well the reason why araki didnt get copyrighted by anyone all this years is because he only uses the song titles and song titles generally don't fall under the copyright law
actually, the stand names dont have to be censored, but its done pre-emptively due to the known nature of some of the artist's being referenced(Metallica,Prince, etc.) and just felt like it wasn't worth the risk.
Don't say the west, we have the actual Stand names here in France And honestly, given that we can still very clearly hear the names, I don't think changing Stand names in subtitles has any legal utility
I dislike just how strict the legal landscape of music copyright is. It’s ridiculous how even the smallest similarities between songs can become the subject of a copyright lawsuit, much less the use of homages in music. It would be like declaring that any character design that is an anthropomorphic mouse is infringing on the Mickey Mouse copyright.
The song Down Under by Men at work got hit by a copyright lawsuit because a part of it had the melody from the laughing Kookaburra song which many people wouldn't even realise was copyrighted because it's a song children in Australia grow up singing
The anoying part is, if US Copyright laws had stayed in the 20 year window that was originally intended, none of this would be an issue. Almost all of the songs mentioned would already be in the public domain by now and Nintendo would've been able to release a Mother 3/Earthbound 2 localization with only 2 song replacements as early as 2019 without legal issue, unedited free and clear by ~2021. The current status being "just assume it's copyright in perpetuity after the 70s" is nothing short of a legal disaster.
It gets really weird when you consider bands where some members have lived much longer than others. Consider the Beatles, where John Lennon was killed around 79/80 and Paul is still alive.
@@ghoulchan7525 Yep, It's good to have politicians these days finally pushing back against Disney instead of selling out, even if it's becoming another bit of partisan idiocy.
@@KiraSlith i think even they are like "dude you want us to extent this again?" and i guess they has a wake up call to how ridiculous the amount of time is.
the fact that they haven’t taken any action against the fan translation really says a lot about their unwillingness to mess with any sort of legal action involving that game/them potentially really wanting to be able to localize it, but not really being able to faithfully and legally.
They can't do anything about it, millions of people already have it and it will never stop being shared. If they don't want to translate something, oh well, not my problem, i'm gonna play it anyway with a translation.
They can't take legal action against translations because they are romhacks which are files that need to be applied to a rom of the game so technically fan translations are not distributing anything owned by nintendo so there is no grounds for a lawsuit anyway
@@AkaSora96that doesn't mean they can't threaten lawsuits. That can and has happened before with rom hacks. Sure, it has bo legal grounds, but they know people don't have enough money to even get to the point where they can dismiss the case. What is special about Mother 3 is that the fan translation is so old. It's been around ~20 years now iirc, and back when it released, it just wasn't well known enough to be on their radar. Now that it is, it's one of, if not THE most popular fantrans, so having the original author take it down would do absolutely nothing
The whole music style copyright thing makes me so mad. I'm a jazz musician, and if you look at any selection of jazz standards, 90% or more will usually be swing, bossa, jazz waltz, or funk (funk being the one that can really sound different). But the whole genre thing means if I write a bossa nova, Jobim's estate could come after me, let alone the thousands of other bossa nova songs that have been composed in the last 60 years. I think the estate of some of the early blues and rock and roll artists came after Marvin Gaye's estate since Marvin himself and the motown in general took influence from other genres and artists that came before 🤦 I don't even like blurred lines, I just think this whole situation is getting absurd.
It should also be worth noting on the topic of music of Mother 3 causing problems for localization, I imagine another part to the puzzle is also that some people might consider that they could CHANGE the music in a localization. While inevitably disappointing, we've seen some games get different songs across versions from various companies, including Nintendo, with the most recent example I can think of being Sonic 3 in the Origins collection. However, what could make this an issue for Mother 3, outside of the potential labor costs of composition, is that a lot of the offending songs are also battle music. Mother 3 has a mechanic within battles where attacking to the timing of the music is critical, which means that changing some of the music wound fundamentally alter the gameplay itself as well. That may be seen as a step too far for localization on top of everything else.
@@ukyoize ... You have to time your hits to the rhythm of the music. Computers don't understand rhythm. Programming it so customizable music could be used for that would be nigh-impossible.
@@akiranara6404 There are entire rhythm games built off of said premise. Nintendo at the very least publishes some such games, if not develops them. Some of which were also on their handheld systems. ...Not actually arguing against reworking the game to such an extent being way too big of an ask, just refuting your claim that it is impossible to do from a technical standpoint. Besides, it would disrupt the intended tone of a very story-centric game, so not a good solution.
@@Shalakor I like the idea of giving the Crypt of the Necrodancer team a chance to do all that, making new music and reprogramming the game to accept the new songs for the combo system. Even though it won't happen, it's probably the option that's most likely to succeed. I mean, if anyone could do it, they could. I'd mostly be interested in their takes on really sad or atmospheric kinda music, since thats not their usual forté.
As a minor tangent, i really believe the lifetime + 70 years law has done way more damage to the industry than it has done any good, and i hardly believe there should be a civil war towards Disney if they even consider trying to pull that shit again.
@@stripedrajang3571 Throughout several decades, the company would force the law to stretch the time it takes for something to become public domain, which used to be around 28 years plus an extension of another 28 but only by the author itself. HOWEVER, since the 90's, they have been pushing Congress to add more and more years. The first time being 75 years of ownership no matter what, and in the early 2000's they changed it again to make it the author's lifetime and 75 years.
@@aquelgamermexicano, wow. Disney is really that protective, huh? I had no idea they loved their intellectual properties that much. It's like their children.
@@stripedrajang3571 Which again, i know the sarcasm here, the problem isn't so much the fact that they're protective, but rather how that has affected the industry in terms of creativity and copyright abuse, case in point the situations with the music industry in the video. There's being protective of your properties, and then there's just abusing the system.
@aquelgamermexicano , my bad. I'm not being sarcastic. I literally didn't know Disney was influencing, or bribing, the US Congress for their own personal interests. I don't know much about law. It's complicated and tedious. 😅
I think that the Blurred Lines case also shows something quite scary. That you simply need to gain majority opinion to win in court, not be legitimate. The jury ruling is specific to US, and seems very out of sense for someone outside.
A jury trial for a copyright case makes asbolutely no sense. But given that the appeals court still upheld the decision in the end, it seems like the courts were always on the side of Gaye's estate.
That’s the problem with pulling random public nobodies for juries instead of experts in the field. It’s all a game born out of a fear of committing injustice which, perhaps fittingly, causes injustice.
@@psychokinrazalon I understand the sentiment, but I think it would be harder to say a jury is impartial if it wasn't completely random. Do we know if any expert witnesses were called during the Blurred Lines case? Besides, an expert serving on the jury in that trial would have to live where the lawsuit was filed, as per the Sixth Amendment.
@@psychokinrazalon And replaced by what? There's definitely amendments that could be made, and it's hardly infallible, but what good would throwing out the entire thing do?
the fact that a beautiful game like this might never get localized because of some music and other legal stuff baffles and saddens me, we live in a sad timeline Edit: i would like to add that i am aware of the fan localization and i have played it prior to writing this comment, i just think it would be nice to have something official
@@nohrianscum9791 One could even say the fan translation patch is a better way to experience the game than an official localization would ever be, just on grounds of being a passion project with a lot more dedicated work and scrutiny to accuracy than would be possible through normal channels even without the legal hoops considered. But, there's still a lot of people who don't want to mess around with personally downloading emulators and patches (even if a lot of officially released products are the same thing nowadays).
just emulate, there has been an english patch for years if people really wanted to play this game, they have already played years ago. but mother fans in the west are more known for talking about games than playing them
Oh hey bowblax, question; do you find it hard to put out content as much as you do? I know your content isn't like, that complex, you probably have an editor too, but do you find it hard to do routinely? Have you gotten burnout yet?
Iagree, this is the most informative Mother 3 video I've watched, it's more about precedent and laws, rather than wild speculation like many other videos tend to be
All these legal issues are very reminiscent of what happened to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog 3. After Michael Jackson's death, this game was never re-released or even acknowledged by Sega for many years, until the release of Sonic Origins, where it received new music tracks replacing the original level themes.
@@stripedrajang3571Disney lobbied to extend the copyright protection of the artist up to 70 years after Walt Disney’s death, just to not make Mickey Mouse fall under public domain, and no longer profit on the character.
@@stripedrajang3571 They meant that Disney itself has done this after Walt Disney died where 70 years is the limit of the copyright protection before it expires and becomes public domain. Walt Disney himself has been dead for nearly 60 years.
I've always sorta accepted that the game won't be localized, and that even if by some miracle it did, likely too much would be changed from the original for me to care. But this video does a great job at really nailing just how many hurdles there are to cross. The music industry and its copyright laws are brutal over here, they would basically have to remake half the soundtrack to even start having a chance. It's great to have someone with actual background expertise to thoroughly explain the topic, and I think you did a really great job! I've already got like your whole channel in my Watch Later playlist now, I really enjoyed this. Great work! (Hopefully they'll still add the game to the Japanese Switch VC so I can play it there lol)
yeah unfortunately this is the same issue that happened with Sonic 3 & Knuckles' rerelease last year in Sonic Origins - a fair bit of the music from Sonic 3 had to be changed because of the legal issues surrounding some of the original songs partially composed with Michael Jackson's involvement, so that alone must've been a lot of work to go through.
If it gets localized i hope they get help from earthbound fans, like the fan-translation team, can get some composers from different games that love earthbound, like Toby Fox (i think he will definitely try his best to not mess up) and other composers
I’m still watching the video (which is excellent by the way!) but if I understand this…if I or anyone else EVER makes a game we have to avoid all references to pop culture unless we wanna get sucked into a swamp of legal matters? That’s a bummer :/. And here I thought Nintendo was just lazy or hated us. I had no idea they could potentially get sued to high heaven if they released Mother 3 in the west. Yikes.
I'm glad you're enjoying the video, my friend! But, indeed, that is the case -- it's not that one has to avoid all references to pop culture: it's more that you will want to be careful, as the law is like a minefield, and you never know where you'll trip up and cause trouble for yourself. Most copyright holders don't care if you put a cameo of their work into your game (the Beatles likely wouldn't care about the Yellow Submarine sprite cameo in Earthbound or Mother 3), and even if they wanted to do something about it, they wouldn't necessarily have a case. But... they still could sue, if they really wanted to. And it'd be up to you to defend your work against an accusation: that door can only be opened if you put the reference in there, to begin with.
Seems like the only way to safely bring Mother 3 would be by editing the game and adding visual references that parody the songs like with Mr. Batty, which may ruin the tone of the game at times.
As a law student and huge video games fan, this channel is absolutely perfect! I’m hoping to specialise in Technology Law/IP Law and this channel has taught me a ton.
"Unfounded Revenge" is also directly Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony 6. Shostakovich is most definitely not in the public domain. Originally under the USSR, his works were only domestically protected due to a lack of international copyright treaty adherence - but then the Soviet Union fell, and music licensing changed and his music fell under copyright until 2045. They're held by Boosey and Hawkes now as the publisher.
I actually don't mind how law-dense this was. As an artist I've been trying so hard to understand copyright law for my own benefit. You're the only channel that has been able to break everything down into a digestible way.
I remember Kenji Yamamoto's unraveling, that was a bomb that was defused before it blew up hard on Toei and Bamco (Yamamoto composed for the budokai games), so now its honestly clear why Nintendo actively refuses to rerelease Mother 3. I can only see it being released on a remaster or remake with new soundtrack, but the music really is tied so much to the narrative and feel of the game, that doing so is asking Ninty to pour time and money into a brand new game. Also i find it funny how the japanese laws that make Ninty and Toei turbo aggressive against anyone using their IP in any way are also related to the laws that prevent them from seeing trouble come back at them.
I think that perspective of the Japanese copyright law, is also one of the reasons why there’s so many old songs from artists still not released outside Japan, neither physical or digital. I could guess some artists used western music for their songs, and they were trapped in the legal trap.
Another banger, loved it. I really enjoy the legal portions of these videos. You manage to introduce legal concepts in ways that are easy to understand and comprehend. You keep your scripts tight and focused, and clearly push to be as objective as you can be; which I particularly appreciate especially nowadays. I think you've found the perfect balance in your videos as they are now. Can't wait for the next one. 😎
real quick just wanna say, thank you for putting the effort in making the captions move around the video, it's something not a lot of people on youtube know you can do with captions, even people who cover the subject of close captions!
Best ending: after Deltarune is complete, Nintendo hires Toby Fox again to change all potentially infringing songs from Mother 3 to original tracks, leading to a western release.
Toby Fox Is been busy working team along with tied with gamefreak let me theorizing Is gonna be permamently being hired as a new young composer for the Company.
mother 3 is one of my favorite games ever and after playing it a bunch of times and i feel like a localization of mother 3 is one of those things thats been hyped up to death so much, that if they actually do it it would be INCREDIBLY underwhelming if it done even slightly wrong.
I feel like this attitude is just Mother fans setting themselves up for disappointment no matter what. There are plenty of weird errors, bizarre translation decisions and overall plenty of potential for improvement in the existing fan translation, people just don’t notice it because they don’t speak Japanese. I’d take losing some pop culture references for the chance for the translation to be improved upon.
@@nemesi55 Exactly! Not to mention, the dedication of those who document changes between JP and localized Mother releases is truly one of passion. It would, in my opinion, be a disservice to those who would love to discover all the little changes made for a proper localization.
@@GrimlandCS Besides, Mother 3's not nearly as referential toward modern pop culture as the other games in the series. Most of the soundtrack is either original, or inspired by classical music that's well outside of copyright anyways, for example. It would probably be a lot of fun to see the game go the Jojo localization route and just bootleg the hell out of the references that do exist, since they aren't very important anyway. Ofc that's probably more time/money/effort than Nintendo is willing to spend for a decades old cult game, but I would say if they ever do become interested: bring on the changes! A new translation should be intended for NEW audiences, anyhow, not the same old people who have already been playing it since forever. Kicking your series-based nostalgia in the teeth is literally a plot point in Mother 3 to begin with, it would be appropriate.
Another alternative is they could create a new soundtrack for a new release of the game in a similar vein to Earthbound Beginnings. With Nintendo gaining much closer relations to creators like Tobey Fox it would be interesting to see if they utilize a partnership like that to try and maintain the spirit of the songs without necessarily copying them. I think a deal like that would likely be a cheaper alternative to licensing the older songs, at the sacrifice of it not being the "true original" game.
If Nintendo creates a Mother 3 remake with a new soundtrack by Toby Fox, you will be remembered as a prophet, Dragonite. And I will be a very, very happy Moony!
It would be a glorious circle. Toby Fox taking inspiration from Mother, only to produce for Mother afterwards. And if so, I wish Toby remixes the original soundtrack to the extent as Earthbound where it's relatively not as obvious.
This is a weirdly genuinely possible scenario- considering both Toby's connections with Nintendo and the Mother franchise (and, more critically, the ungodly smash success of Undertale and the degree to which it's solidified Mother's place in gaming culture) it honestly seems shockingly plausible for Nintendo to go that route
Very important to insinuate the past legal and current legal systems to correlate current Nintendo’s stand on their property. Yes, they ARE aware of their fanbase and the IP they cherish. Yes, they DO know about how valuable their continued innovation is invaluable. BUT, they also know how targetable it gets if they let something slip up. THAT is the main reason why Nintendo isn’t as loose with IP as much as Sega, because they have ALOT to lose if they let the quality slip under their standard. And I’m not saying that we can’t have both the corporate and fans be happy. But in the business world is what you’ve stated: There’s who wins the race and who loses it. And for Nintendo, even though their fans won’t be happy 100% of the time, want their business to succeed for a very long time. That’s just the facts. Anyway, thanks for the Mother 3 video. Even though it’s on this day, this is one video I’m glad is no joke. 👍
Well, IP quality, anyway. Developmental and technical release quality they can let slip and still profit just because of how low of a bar the rest of the industry is setting most of the time.
I think theyre in the wrong still, we dont live in the 90s anymore where they were actually at risk of their IP's quality being compromised by fangames. Fangames can be and are released online distinctly from regular games, Nintendo is still stuck in this mindset where they think allowing fangames means letting a bunch of low quality clones of their games onto the market but that just hasnt been the case for a long time. For the Sega example you gave I've seen nobody confuse Sonic fangames with official Sonic games. I also think a lot of their takedowns have to do with pride more than actual IP protection as a lot of what theyve targeted has been some of the highest quality fangames that exist out there (AM2R, Project M, Pokemon Prism...). Lower quality fangames or ROMhacks that fail to get traction tend to get left alone. For example theres a lot of low quality yet very popular Pokemon ROMhacks like Snakewood that never got targeted, yet Prism which is one of the best ones ever does. So while Nintendo claims theyre just "protecting their IP", I think they're either very stuck in the past or just straight up being dishonest.
@@ThirdXavier well the things is. the Good Romhacks get talked about a lot. while the lesser ones don't. the more you talk about something like this. the more chances for someone that works for the company to hear about it, or land on it's trail. Lose Lips Sink Ships i guess.
It's funny to rip from "Back In The USSR", when that song was more or less a style parody of the early Beach Boys, including "Surfin' USA", which got into legal trouble over it's similarities to Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". And Natural Cyborg's Beat It inspired riff reminded me a lot more of the opening riff to "I Saw Her Standing There". Also, for that DBZ track that they removed because it sounded too much like Led Zeppelin, a band notorious for just taking riffs and lyrics from older artists, is kinda funny.
The law focused stuff is fairly unique to this channel, and a big part of what keeps my eyes glued to the screen for the long runtimes of those videos. I adore it, really, you're showing me deep insights into things I care about a lot which I'd otherwise have no clue about. Far be it from me to say that this is your niche and no other, but it's something I like and look forward to about your content enough to comment on.
Maybe calling to SIE to get in touch with Sony Music and Universal Music for ease the music rights of the most of the copyright holders and guarantee the release of Earthbound 2, it could be a needed truce for the existence of a Western release of Mother 3.
_Why?_ There's already a translation patch that was worked on by a professional localizer that not only agonized over producing a faithful translation (a rarity in modern Western localization, professional or otherwise), but worked in the context of a team that even fixed what were bugs in the original game. It's trivially easy to get a GBA emulator working, it's trivially easy to find a Mother 3 ROM (something you now have to do since it's been decades since it stopped being produced), and it's trivially easy to patch said Mother 3 ROM. And even if there was an official English localization released for purchase, it would still more than likely be run in software emulator within whichever Nintendo console. And _why_ would NoA bother with a localization, when people made an accurate one for free? What's even to say that they won't bungle it worse than the fan translation ever could?
The 2009 iTunes bit is likely a red herring. In early 2009 iTunes ceased selling DRMed tracks in most countries (excluding Japan), and while much of the music had been replaced with unprotected files by that point, some hadn’t, and effectively disappeared from the store. For example, Angela Via’s “Catch Me If You Can” disappeared this way, and didn’t get brought back until last spring (a few months before Pokemon Puzzle League, a game it appears in, was added to Switch Online). There were similar oddities with the dub score to Pokémon 2000, the Pokémon World single, and a few other Pokémon-related tracks, so I remember it quite well. I’m guessing Mother 3 never came back because there wasn’t a perceived sufficient demand. Basically, don’t read too much into the iTunes part. It’s probably irrelevant.
February 21 of 2024 Mother 3 was ported to nintendo switch! But not localized and only in Japan... This is truly a sad day for people who dont live in Japan :(
I really enjoyed how much legal information was covered in this video! Copyright law is such a complicated subject with so few people covering in-depth on TH-cam so it’s always nice when someone does do that.
I honestly would love to see more like this. While I have no experience in law myself. This does make understanding situations like this much easier for the rest of us.
Honestly man if you enjoy integrating your knowledge of the law into videos like this than I would continue to lean into your strengths! I really enjoyed this video, very informative and highly entertaining. I don’t see a lot of videos taking this approach and would rather see a creator making content that they simply enjoy making. You did an excellent job!
Yeah I agree. It’s good to get new perspectives that are normally never heard of here on TH-cam, in this case being a lawyer as their expertise in the world of law can help us understand things of this nature even more.
The video was pretty good, I loved it! My main constructive criticism is that TH-cam has a feature called "info cards" I believe, which would've let you put the links to the two Earthbound/Mother music compilations as a clickable link in the top right corner of the video rather than having to retype the link or go to the description. Thanks for the good content though ^^
I am glad you mentioned the blurred lines controversy. I think that is one of those situations where in retrospect the anger of it being a "rape anthem" and that a White guy got a bigger R&B hit then a lot of Black R&B artist in a genre invented by Black people rubbed some the wrong way. blinded people to the larger issue. The lawsuit that the song lost sets a horrible precedent. Assuming it happened in American courts because of the precedent set by this lawsuit Konami could theoretically sue Koji Igarashi arguing the Bloodstained is a ripoff of Castlevania and they would probably win ( this law suit would not happen in American courts I am just using it as a hypothetical) Also more proof that it was mostly emotion driving the backlash. Robin Thick got most of the hatred for the song when TI and Pharrell Williams did most of the work writing and producing it.
I think you’re 100% right. For me any loss to him was a win, even though I knew it was ridiculous, but it was dreadful living with ptsd at that time. It was honestly not dissimilar to covid lockdowns in some ways, I stayed home a lot and struggled to go to the supermarket because of the likelihood that song would play and trigger a flashback and I know some others had a similar experience. I think that’s why there was that series of photos where women compared lines of the song to what their attackers said. It’s really sad that the case created such a ridiculous precedent for IP law though! If nintendo can’t battle it I can’t imagine how tough it is for indie devs!!! And yes that’s a good point, I’m not sure how TI and Pharrell Williams got away with it. I guess that’s why it’s always so important to take a step back even if your anger is justified. You might miss your target or unintentionally hurt others. I really hope things will be set right in IP law!
@@em6644 Your right and your comparison to lockdowns is similar. In retrospect we can all agree that people got caught up in the outrage and were so quick to act to just do something anything that a lot of innocents people got killed or hurt in the cross fire. There was this mindset at the time directed at government officials even at the smallest level that if they didn't do enough to stop people from dying of coronavirus then it was the equivalent of killing them, no politician wants to be seen as killing his people. One example that comes to mind was the governor of New York city in the USA Andrew Cumo putting coronavirus patients in nursing homes. Elderly people are at the most risk of coronavirus and it isn't even close. In America the majority of people who died of coronavirus were 65 or older. The reason he did this was because people were outraged at nurses in hospitals being overworked and there was some old protocol about putting patients in nursing homes when the hospitals were strained. The hospitals weren't sufficiently strained though it was.
I would be extremely interested in a video about Japan's copyright law. America's copyright system is absolutely infuriating and it might be nice to see what, from your brief description, seems like a much more reasonable alternative. Edit: also the Andy Warhol case
Hey, Japanese copyright law also leaves many safe for work doujinshis of anime shows and mangas alone. It’s mainly because its lawyers know that they’re derivative and unofficial works made by artists and their fans for fellow fans and fellow artists. Cool.
American "copyright" is literally just corporate bribery with little to no actual law Then again we're talking about a corporate oligarchy not a legitimate nation state
@@SlapstickGenius23 basically, what japanese copyright law does, is that you don't have to DEFEND your copyright to keep it, so there is no reason for most people to defend it unless and untill it actually becomes an issue for them. also it usually keeps the NSFW alone too, since that has higher demand and profit for the artists, and more importantly, most current artists started thier careers as doujin writers. The anime industry as a whole knows that going after doijins means the collapse of the industry 10 years down the line due to the collapse in the influx of new talent.
If and when Mother 3 does release in the west (which I believe will happen on NSO), we can all confirm this was a high quality April Fool’s Day video. 😊
I genuinely do love the law-based videos. You use your expertise to answer questions that fans have had that a layman can't. It's both informative and entertaining. Also your two ending bits where you quote Pollyanna and then have the "where mother 3?" fakeout helped pull me out of a funk, thank you!
The phantom of the opera reference alone is enough to sink it. NUMEROUS artists including Pink Floyd have been sued for writing stuff similar to the chord progression in the main theme of Phantom.
Phantom's main theme is a riff on Bach's "Tocata and Fugue in D Minor." I don't care if it's an extremely well known public domain work that's been used to death, I want zombie Bach to knock some sense into Weber.
@TransDrummer1312 Actually, one of the songs fron Phantom of the Opera has a suspicious amount of similarities from Pink Floyd's song Echoes with regards to chord changes and things, but the guy who played bass guitar with the band when Echoes was recorded has openly said he doesn't want to sue because it sets a bad precedent.
You could've mentioned that some of Mother 3's music got remixed in Super Smash Bros., including "You Call This A Utopia" which still has the section that sounds like the 20th Century Fox theme. This theme kept being included up to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, none of the other 3 tracks seem to be problematic.
As someone who is a fan of "legal tube" channels like Lawful Masses and Legal Eagle, this was just the right amount of "legal density" mixed with gaming history.
It is February 21, 2024, a partner direct released today, and Mother 3 was revealed to be releasing on Nintendo Switch Online... in Japan only. I'm rewatching this video to remember the possible reasons why this will never leave japanese shores. At this point, I think the only way Mother 3 gets localized is if gets remade with a new soundtrack.
Excellent videos, one of the few on this topic that actually bases informations on proper sources and not just assumptions. For the last part of the video, I'm personally very interested in legal topics
I'm confused as to how something like Doom has been able to be legally re-released in the US then, considering half its soundtrack are just unauthorized MIDI covers of Slayer and Pantera songs.
The amount of law-based content in this video was not only fine, but absolutely welcome. Your insight was both valuable, and enjoyable to listen to. With that said, your insightful demeanor and excellent presentation of topics means that I would be extremely interested in all content you produce, regardless of its connection to legal matters, as long as it focused on video games. Hope this offers some insight into what I hope for/expect from this channel!
I'm ever thankful for these kinds of videos, and this one is particularly important for many Nintendo fans. It's hard for people who haven't studied a subject to truly understand a situation and this is true of many things in every day life. I spend my days currently teaching people how to use a computer, and much like the level of "out of depth" that my patrons are, I am particularly so with the law, and I would imagine a lot of other people are too. This is a level of closure for Mother 3 that I never expected to receive, thank you for all your work.
You provide some very detailed, eye-opening content on this channel. I really like the way you tackle some long-standing industry topics and give people a new lens to view them through.
I really enjoyed this video a lot. It's a refreshing thing to go from conjecture from people who know nothing about law to one where a lawyer completely breaks down the subject. Take my sub.
I loved this video. I was always confused as to why exactly they never localized it, but having listened to the Nintendo and Sega IP videos you also did, it made me realize just how many hurdles Nintendo would have to go through
At this point... the series is just do for a remake entirely. Lets see the characters be remade into 3D with an entire overhaul of just almost everything we loved in the originals.
Another excellent video! Thanks Moony! I enjoy both your insight as a lawyer AND your interests in gaming in general. I'm sure no matter what projects you have in the works, they will be worth my time and they will be entertaining as well! I'd go so far as to say you're an inspiration! ✨🤓
This reminds me of the controversy surrounding the soundtrack of Dragonball Z Budokai 3. Nonetheless I appreciate this dialogue on Mother 3’s localization hell, it makes so much sense now!
Believe it or not, the Budokai 3 soundtrack controversy is alluded to in the video! It's related to the example used for other times in which Japanese composers have run afoul of this same issue. Kenji Yamamoto, the example in question, also composed music for Budokai 3! And his "tributes" were the reason the soundtrack controversy existed! You can read a bit more about Kenji Yamamoto here: www.kanzenshuu.com/features/kenji-yamamoto-retrospective/
@@moon-channel Wow like you said it’s all connected. The most bewildering thing is that if you grabbed an unknowing casual fan of any of these games, they would immediately mention how great their music was 😅I definitely second that Mother 3 hands down had the best soundtrack on the gameboy advance!
I really enjoyed this video and the format, and you make a good argument. To the last question, there are tons of VG channels just talking about games, but your games + law intersection gives you a unique gimmick. I'd say stick with this, unless your metrics really say otherwise.
@@moon-channel I second that, keep doing what you’re doing. More people who don’t look behind the glass needs to know information like this so they know how to approach a company’s product. Maybe as more people understand it, the perspective of Nintendo’s ‘Harsh’ nature will change. After all, a business is run by people who do have passion and desire to grow, varying from business to business. For Nintendo, it’s their entertainment legacy.
The video is fantastic! I think the law focused content really carves out a unique niche for the channel since you're so well versed on it. I love the direction the channel is currently going and I hope you stick with it!
I'm personally loving the law based stuff, it's a cool angle that I don't get to see very much in other people's videos! I love your videos with lighter topics as well! This is an awesome video, thank you.
It's interesting reading Moony's profile about how he enjoys making wholesome and relaxing videos about games and law. I find this video very distressing, along with the American legal system in general.
I prefer to make relaxing videos, and I hope this video, in general, can still be relaxing! But, I will admit that I also find the state of modern American IP law to indeed be quite distressing.
I've known about all the homages in Mother 3 for years and even though I knew that the real reason we were never going to get this game would be corporate ones I'm still disappointed.
It's honestly pretty sad since i 've been an Earthbound Nerd for almost a decade and kinda feel really alone since i feel like the only person who know about this masterpiece of a game. The only thing that can help this game is to wait for a miracle to happened.
Best case scenario to still hold out on for a potential translation, is the fact that so many games only sold officially in Asia and Japan now, do include many times an English option. There is always the possibility that say, hypothetically, Nintendo released a Mother Trilogy collection only in Japan, but it includes non-Japanese translation options in it. It would likely be less incentive for them to make one since it would be a smaller group outside of Japan aware of it, but it would allow them to skirt around the legal technicalities by it officially being a Japan only release.
This was really interesting, stopped what I was doing to see this. Would love to see more details about the Japanese and international copyright system, I've seen a great price by Tom Scott before, but nothing really explaining the Japanese approach Thanks a lot for the video
Springboarding off this, one thing I've wondered about is how Koichi Sugiyama was able to block S-E from using his orchestral Dragon Quest soundtracks in US releases of (some) DQ games. It's hard to believe a composer-for-hire would be able to hold his music hostage like that, but that's apparently what happened.
@@jasonblalock4429 From memory that's because the contract he signed predated the whole Square Enix merger and the terms from back then wasn't a work for hire deal and he kept the rights to the music he made.
If you're looking for a good video to do about japanese copyright law, I recommend going over the unique copyright situation with Jojo's bizarre adventure. It highlights the differences between the Japanese and American legal systems in a really interesting way
Imo qthe jojo eng translations make the best of the situation, they usually have more better stand renames than terrible ones- maiden heaven is a good one that sounds the same as the original and in some cases are better than them like netherworld. Very interesting
I'm a bit late to commenting, but just wanted to share how much fun this to listen to and I actually use part of this video in my music appreciation classes to discuss musical copyright law. The breakdown of the Marvin Gaye Estate / Pharrell Williams case is great for explaining why I'm so careful in my classrooms about copyright law.
There is a massive point you missed in the video, and that was that the music track “You Call This a Utopia?!” Is in every official English release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and onwards. If that music track is copyrighted, how can they use the track in the English version of Smash?
Another example of a recent lawsuit similar to the "Blurred Lines"/"Got to Give It Up" fiasco is "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Even worse is that several bands filed lawsuits against them for infringing their songs which have the same style, 80s-style funk. They all won their respective lawsuits, it's absurd I swear.
Come OOOON where's the april fools catch? The Greek Critique had me and by 20mins on this one I was hoping it would happen! Do you have any JoJo content planned for the future? It's an anime chock-full of references to bands.
I remember the Kenji Yamamoto thing. I didn't notice as a kid because he mainly used older songs as "inspiration" for his work. When the Budokai 1&3 remaster was released, they had to change the music there, too, because of his plagiarism. Imagine having to change an entire soundtrack because of potential plagiarism while keeping the same feel. That's what Mother 3 would have to go through.
I was not expecting such a quality video on April Fool's Day, but I'm glad to watch it! And I would love to see a video about the Japanese copyright system. I've noticed myself how it can sometimes be seemingly very lenient and sometimes seemingly very strict. So I would love a breakdown of it on here.
I love how informative your videos are and it is so good to see someone so passionate explaining things in a way that a layman can understand. I recall that for a while people thought Nintendo didn't want to translate Mother 3 because it was the end of the GBA circle along with the Earthbound stink in the SNES era, but the truth is far more complex.
The blurred lines case was incredibly stupid to the layman and the fact that they had awarded the estate for a song that did not have much in common musically other than the theme was crazy
I think you did a very good job compiling the legal background to understand Mother 3's situation, I myself was laughed when I heard Beat It. And the law-heaviness wasn't an issue, these things take explaining and I like understanding why something is rather than a just tl;dr most of the time. Exploring this blurry area of legality when it comes to copyright over artistic works (particularly music) could possibly be a niche this channel could fulfill. Not sure how much mileage you could get from it, but I am very open to more things like that.
I think you fill such a great unlooked niche with video game content, because it really is just another industry at the end of the day. I think it is something that there is not too much content on (at least from my personal browsing on video game related topics). You've really painted a great picture with concrete statements on something as abstract as IP Laws (ownership of ideas is still relatively lost on me, even in a lot of ways against a lot of it still, as it seems like things get worse because of it). I personally love a lot more of the law-based content! It really makes a lot of cumbersome concepts pretty cut & dry by the way you go about describing these circumstances!
LOVE your style - please, continue deep diving the legal waters of our game industry - it's utterly fascinating! Today (on discovering your channel), watched right through a few of your videos and was captivated. Essentially, what TH-cam needs most isn't more pandering to the 98.71% of viewers who need and get tits, explosions, memes and sock puppets... in other words, just keep doing what you're doing.
24:18 The second musical reference in Mr. Batty's Twist isn't from Phantom of the Opera. It's Go Kart Twist by Gianni Morandi. Both songs even have "Twist" in their name.
I appreciate the legal-heavy videos you produce. Your series on IP in Nintendo and Sony games have motivated me to concentrate in IP Law (when I reach 2L ofc). Thank you for your sharing your passions in such an entertaining and informative package!
Everyone complaining on Twitter, Reddit, and TH-cam should watch this video. I understand the frustrating but people need to understand that this game is simply just not worth localizing for Nintendo.
Congrats on the shoutout on TechLinked! Haven't watched yet, I've been busy this past week and I'm waiting for a moment of rest to really appreciate the info you lay out before us, but I did put on TechLinked while brushing my teeth just now and I was happy to hear them reference you! And made me even more curious to watch... Soon!
I hope a remake (ala Links Awakening or better ) comes later down the line for all of the Mother/Earthbound series. especially for Mother 3, being able to remake and update music to hopefully fix the legal stuff? thanks disney 😒
Grab Atlas VPN for just $1.83/month + 3 months extra before the deal expires! ⚖: get.atlasvpn.com/MoonChannel
I apologize if some of the dialogue isn't quite as clear as it could be! I lost my voice and became quite sick after the first recording session, and so all the dialogue for this video is first-take only. Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy the video!
Rip
Since you asked -This video was fascinating. I think your law-based perspective is INVALUABLE in the gaming community , because i dont believe we've ever had someone with your breadth of legal knowledge discuss... well... ANYTHING in the gaming community. I have a funny feeling your going to unintentionally inspire alot of people to look into the legal side of these things, and attempt to find answers for questions we've been asking for years - which will, in-turn, inspire more people.
TLDR; PLEASE keep making videos like this. The landscape of the gaming community - as a whole - has been lacking this kind of knowledge for AGES.
I'm sure your going to do more then just survive making videos like this - I TRULY believe your going to thrive, and EXPLODE in popularity very "soon" - whether you like it or not.
I also believe your going to inspire quite a few people - in more ways then one. Thank you for taking the time; and effort, in your busy life, to make this content.
I/We appreciate it. 💯
@@moon-channel i like blurred lines
You know Micheal Jackson getting brought up in this reminds me that Sonic 3 had a sticky legal history with his estate, to the point that we didn't get a rerelease of sonic 3 until 2022 when they removed his songs. I would love to see a video covering this.
Knowing now the threshold for japanese copyright law explains to me how araki hasn't been sued into oblivion by the music industry in Japan despite all his music reference in jojo and it also explains why the stand's names in the west HAVE to be change to even get a release here
well the reason why araki didnt get copyrighted by anyone all this years is because he only uses the song titles and song titles generally don't fall under the copyright law
actually, the stand names dont have to be censored, but its done pre-emptively due to the known nature of some of the artist's being referenced(Metallica,Prince, etc.) and just felt like it wasn't worth the risk.
@@CodeMarbles the highest possibility of jojo being accused of is probably a trademark infringement
Don't say the west, we have the actual Stand names here in France
And honestly, given that we can still very clearly hear the names, I don't think changing Stand names in subtitles has any legal utility
yet somehow you can take down any review of an anime in Japan because it hurt your feelings???
I dislike just how strict the legal landscape of music copyright is. It’s ridiculous how even the smallest similarities between songs can become the subject of a copyright lawsuit, much less the use of homages in music. It would be like declaring that any character design that is an anthropomorphic mouse is infringing on the Mickey Mouse copyright.
Don't give The Mouse any ideas!
@@moon-channel Something tells me they already tried and failed.
The song Down Under by Men at work got hit by a copyright lawsuit because a part of it had the melody from the laughing Kookaburra song which many people wouldn't even realise was copyrighted because it's a song children in Australia grow up singing
@@FF-tp7qs That reminds me of how the happy birthday song, of all things, is copyrighted
@@UnexpectedGamer7 not anymore
The anoying part is, if US Copyright laws had stayed in the 20 year window that was originally intended, none of this would be an issue. Almost all of the songs mentioned would already be in the public domain by now and Nintendo would've been able to release a Mother 3/Earthbound 2 localization with only 2 song replacements as early as 2019 without legal issue, unedited free and clear by ~2021. The current status being "just assume it's copyright in perpetuity after the 70s" is nothing short of a legal disaster.
It gets really weird when you consider bands where some members have lived much longer than others. Consider the Beatles, where John Lennon was killed around 79/80 and Paul is still alive.
Yeah. US Copyright laws can be so out of touch.
we can thank/blame Disney for this one
@@ghoulchan7525 Yep, It's good to have politicians these days finally pushing back against Disney instead of selling out, even if it's becoming another bit of partisan idiocy.
@@KiraSlith i think even they are like "dude you want us to extent this again?" and i guess they has a wake up call to how ridiculous the amount of time is.
the fact that they haven’t taken any action against the fan translation really says a lot about their unwillingness to mess with any sort of legal action involving that game/them potentially really wanting to be able to localize it, but not really being able to faithfully and legally.
Nintendo soft allowing Mother 3 fan ROMs are the same vibe as Microsoft making “Too Human” to be free permanently on the Xbox Store.
They can't do anything about it, millions of people already have it and it will never stop being shared. If they don't want to translate something, oh well, not my problem, i'm gonna play it anyway with a translation.
They can't take legal action against translations because they are romhacks which are files that need to be applied to a rom of the game so technically fan translations are not distributing anything owned by nintendo so there is no grounds for a lawsuit anyway
@@AkaSora96that doesn't mean they can't threaten lawsuits. That can and has happened before with rom hacks. Sure, it has bo legal grounds, but they know people don't have enough money to even get to the point where they can dismiss the case.
What is special about Mother 3 is that the fan translation is so old. It's been around ~20 years now iirc, and back when it released, it just wasn't well known enough to be on their radar. Now that it is, it's one of, if not THE most popular fantrans, so having the original author take it down would do absolutely nothing
The whole music style copyright thing makes me so mad. I'm a jazz musician, and if you look at any selection of jazz standards, 90% or more will usually be swing, bossa, jazz waltz, or funk (funk being the one that can really sound different). But the whole genre thing means if I write a bossa nova, Jobim's estate could come after me, let alone the thousands of other bossa nova songs that have been composed in the last 60 years. I think the estate of some of the early blues and rock and roll artists came after Marvin Gaye's estate since Marvin himself and the motown in general took influence from other genres and artists that came before 🤦 I don't even like blurred lines, I just think this whole situation is getting absurd.
It should also be worth noting on the topic of music of Mother 3 causing problems for localization, I imagine another part to the puzzle is also that some people might consider that they could CHANGE the music in a localization. While inevitably disappointing, we've seen some games get different songs across versions from various companies, including Nintendo, with the most recent example I can think of being Sonic 3 in the Origins collection. However, what could make this an issue for Mother 3, outside of the potential labor costs of composition, is that a lot of the offending songs are also battle music. Mother 3 has a mechanic within battles where attacking to the timing of the music is critical, which means that changing some of the music wound fundamentally alter the gameplay itself as well. That may be seen as a step too far for localization on top of everything else.
Just allow players to play their own music.
@@ukyoize ... You have to time your hits to the rhythm of the music. Computers don't understand rhythm. Programming it so customizable music could be used for that would be nigh-impossible.
@@akiranara6404 There are entire rhythm games built off of said premise. Nintendo at the very least publishes some such games, if not develops them. Some of which were also on their handheld systems. ...Not actually arguing against reworking the game to such an extent being way too big of an ask, just refuting your claim that it is impossible to do from a technical standpoint. Besides, it would disrupt the intended tone of a very story-centric game, so not a good solution.
@@Shalakor I like the idea of giving the Crypt of the Necrodancer team a chance to do all that, making new music and reprogramming the game to accept the new songs for the combo system. Even though it won't happen, it's probably the option that's most likely to succeed. I mean, if anyone could do it, they could.
I'd mostly be interested in their takes on really sad or atmospheric kinda music, since thats not their usual forté.
Gotta get rhythm heaven devs on this
As a minor tangent, i really believe the lifetime + 70 years law has done way more damage to the industry than it has done any good, and i hardly believe there should be a civil war towards Disney if they even consider trying to pull that shit again.
I'm confused. What is the issue with Disney? What did Disney do?
@@stripedrajang3571 Throughout several decades, the company would force the law to stretch the time it takes for something to become public domain, which used to be around 28 years plus an extension of another 28 but only by the author itself.
HOWEVER, since the 90's, they have been pushing Congress to add more and more years. The first time being 75 years of ownership no matter what, and in the early 2000's they changed it again to make it the author's lifetime and 75 years.
@@aquelgamermexicano, wow. Disney is really that protective, huh? I had no idea they loved their intellectual properties that much. It's like their children.
@@stripedrajang3571 Which again, i know the sarcasm here, the problem isn't so much the fact that they're protective, but rather how that has affected the industry in terms of creativity and copyright abuse, case in point the situations with the music industry in the video. There's being protective of your properties, and then there's just abusing the system.
@aquelgamermexicano , my bad. I'm not being sarcastic. I literally didn't know Disney was influencing, or bribing, the US Congress for their own personal interests. I don't know much about law. It's complicated and tedious. 😅
I think that the Blurred Lines case also shows something quite scary. That you simply need to gain majority opinion to win in court, not be legitimate. The jury ruling is specific to US, and seems very out of sense for someone outside.
A jury trial for a copyright case makes asbolutely no sense. But given that the appeals court still upheld the decision in the end, it seems like the courts were always on the side of Gaye's estate.
That’s the problem with pulling random public nobodies for juries instead of experts in the field. It’s all a game born out of a fear of committing injustice which, perhaps fittingly, causes injustice.
@@psychokinrazalon I understand the sentiment, but I think it would be harder to say a jury is impartial if it wasn't completely random. Do we know if any expert witnesses were called during the Blurred Lines case? Besides, an expert serving on the jury in that trial would have to live where the lawsuit was filed, as per the Sixth Amendment.
@@jedimasterpickle3 Let’s be clear: the Constitution needs to be gutted.
@@psychokinrazalon And replaced by what? There's definitely amendments that could be made, and it's hardly infallible, but what good would throwing out the entire thing do?
the fact that a beautiful game like this might never get localized because of some music and other legal stuff baffles and saddens me, we live in a sad timeline
Edit: i would like to add that i am aware of the fan localization and i have played it prior to writing this comment, i just think it would be nice to have something official
The fan translation ROM patch is out there for anyone who wants to experience the game
@@nohrianscum9791 One could even say the fan translation patch is a better way to experience the game than an official localization would ever be, just on grounds of being a passion project with a lot more dedicated work and scrutiny to accuracy than would be possible through normal channels even without the legal hoops considered. But, there's still a lot of people who don't want to mess around with personally downloading emulators and patches (even if a lot of officially released products are the same thing nowadays).
Let's all thank disney for that.
just emulate, there has been an english patch for years if people really wanted to play this game, they have already played years ago.
but mother fans in the west are more known for talking about games than playing them
@@ghoulbuster1 yeah disney can go die they are in the top 10 worst companies for sure
keep the legal density in these videos. it's very interesting to learn about and listen to
Oh hey bowblax, question; do you find it hard to put out content as much as you do? I know your content isn't like, that complex, you probably have an editor too, but do you find it hard to do routinely? Have you gotten burnout yet?
Also I agree w the legal stuff ^^
ASK ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS
Iagree, this is the most informative Mother 3 video I've watched, it's more about precedent and laws, rather than wild speculation like many other videos tend to be
All these legal issues are very reminiscent of what happened to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog 3. After Michael Jackson's death, this game was never re-released or even acknowledged by Sega for many years, until the release of Sonic Origins, where it received new music tracks replacing the original level themes.
Although those "new" music tracks in Sonic 3 are actually based on the beta version's tracks.
@@JonnySpec but not tied to Jackson, or Buxter and such.
Moral of the story: Disney ruining the original intent of copyright and the music industry ruin everything.
Disney ruined it? When? How?
@@stripedrajang3571Disney lobbied to extend the copyright protection of the artist up to 70 years after Walt Disney’s death, just to not make Mickey Mouse fall under public domain, and no longer profit on the character.
@@lumirairazbyte9697, 70 years after the death of someone? Wow. What was it before?
@@stripedrajang3571 They meant that Disney itself has done this after Walt Disney died where 70 years is the limit of the copyright protection before it expires and becomes public domain. Walt Disney himself has been dead for nearly 60 years.
that damn mouse.
The theory is more appealing more than ever. Now is also Japan Switch exclusive….
I've always sorta accepted that the game won't be localized, and that even if by some miracle it did, likely too much would be changed from the original for me to care. But this video does a great job at really nailing just how many hurdles there are to cross. The music industry and its copyright laws are brutal over here, they would basically have to remake half the soundtrack to even start having a chance.
It's great to have someone with actual background expertise to thoroughly explain the topic, and I think you did a really great job! I've already got like your whole channel in my Watch Later playlist now, I really enjoyed this. Great work!
(Hopefully they'll still add the game to the Japanese Switch VC so I can play it there lol)
nice seeing pkbeats here!
yeah unfortunately this is the same issue that happened with Sonic 3 & Knuckles' rerelease last year in Sonic Origins - a fair bit of the music from Sonic 3 had to be changed because of the legal issues surrounding some of the original songs partially composed with Michael Jackson's involvement, so that alone must've been a lot of work to go through.
If it gets localized i hope they get help from earthbound fans, like the fan-translation team, can get some composers from different games that love earthbound, like Toby Fox (i think he will definitely try his best to not mess up) and other composers
This video was 100% an April Fool's Day prank- and nothing more!
I'd still buy it just to support Itoi
I’m still watching the video (which is excellent by the way!) but if I understand this…if I or anyone else EVER makes a game we have to avoid all references to pop culture unless we wanna get sucked into a swamp of legal matters? That’s a bummer :/. And here I thought Nintendo was just lazy or hated us. I had no idea they could potentially get sued to high heaven if they released Mother 3 in the west. Yikes.
I'm glad you're enjoying the video, my friend! But, indeed, that is the case -- it's not that one has to avoid all references to pop culture: it's more that you will want to be careful, as the law is like a minefield, and you never know where you'll trip up and cause trouble for yourself.
Most copyright holders don't care if you put a cameo of their work into your game (the Beatles likely wouldn't care about the Yellow Submarine sprite cameo in Earthbound or Mother 3), and even if they wanted to do something about it, they wouldn't necessarily have a case.
But... they still could sue, if they really wanted to. And it'd be up to you to defend your work against an accusation: that door can only be opened if you put the reference in there, to begin with.
Seems like the only way to safely bring Mother 3 would be by editing the game and adding visual references that parody the songs like with Mr. Batty, which may ruin the tone of the game at times.
@@juanrodriguez9971 "which may ruin the tone of the game at times"
that is exactly why they don't localise Mother 3
No doubt Nintendo has implemented heavy restrictions on, if not outright banning, sampling/homages in their games’ music after all this.
@@moon-channelPaul and Ringo would never…
As a law student and huge video games fan, this channel is absolutely perfect! I’m hoping to specialise in Technology Law/IP Law and this channel has taught me a ton.
"Unfounded Revenge" is also directly Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony 6. Shostakovich is most definitely not in the public domain. Originally under the USSR, his works were only domestically protected due to a lack of international copyright treaty adherence - but then the Soviet Union fell, and music licensing changed and his music fell under copyright until 2045. They're held by Boosey and Hawkes now as the publisher.
But it is weird that it got included as part of a Smash Bros. Brawl arrangement, and has come back in every subsequent game despite that
@@jomaq9233 OH YEAH TRUE
if it was really a problem it wouldn't be in smash ultimate!
I'm sad people think nintendo is just being weird and denying us it
The Blurred Lines suit is especially stupid because without sampling/homage we never would have gotten Gangster's Paradise.
I do believe that Coolio licensed Stevie Wonder so he could do this song. He's even credited as a co-writer.
Well, I guess I'll play the fan translation
Wow
I actually don't mind how law-dense this was. As an artist I've been trying so hard to understand copyright law for my own benefit. You're the only channel that has been able to break everything down into a digestible way.
I remember Kenji Yamamoto's unraveling, that was a bomb that was defused before it blew up hard on Toei and Bamco (Yamamoto composed for the budokai games), so now its honestly clear why Nintendo actively refuses to rerelease Mother 3. I can only see it being released on a remaster or remake with new soundtrack, but the music really is tied so much to the narrative and feel of the game, that doing so is asking Ninty to pour time and money into a brand new game.
Also i find it funny how the japanese laws that make Ninty and Toei turbo aggressive against anyone using their IP in any way are also related to the laws that prevent them from seeing trouble come back at them.
I think that perspective of the Japanese copyright law, is also one of the reasons why there’s so many old songs from artists still not released outside Japan, neither physical or digital. I could guess some artists used western music for their songs, and they were trapped in the legal trap.
Japan's copyright system is both strict and permissive in different ways.
Another banger, loved it. I really enjoy the legal portions of these videos. You manage to introduce legal concepts in ways that are easy to understand and comprehend. You keep your scripts tight and focused, and clearly push to be as objective as you can be; which I particularly appreciate especially nowadays. I think you've found the perfect balance in your videos as they are now. Can't wait for the next one. 😎
Absolutely this! I enjoy the legal content and game content equally.
real quick just wanna say, thank you for putting the effort in making the captions move around the video, it's something not a lot of people on youtube know you can do with captions, even people who cover the subject of close captions!
The captions are all done by the illustrious James Hugh! I am so grateful for his incredible work.
Wait; wait; wait…you’re an attorney, AND can explain music theory? I see this going places in the future. 👍
Best ending: after Deltarune is complete, Nintendo hires Toby Fox again to change all potentially infringing songs from Mother 3 to original tracks, leading to a western release.
Toby Fox Is been busy working team along with tied with gamefreak let me theorizing Is gonna be permamently being hired as a new young composer for the Company.
@@dynamon911nz
I think it would be better if he was hired as a regular freelancer rather than stay permanently.
They could do that or they could do a remake like the Super Mario RPG one with Toby Fox as the composer.
The problem is a lot of the tracks are battle tracks and in battle, you can hit enemies in time with rhythm
mother 3 is one of my favorite games ever and after playing it a bunch of times and i feel like a localization of mother 3 is one of those things thats been hyped up to death so much, that if they actually do it it would be INCREDIBLY underwhelming if it done even slightly wrong.
the general audience deserves to play it officially
Mother 3 finally being localized wouldn't really be for Mother fans. It'd be for the Mother series itself, and those who've yet to be touched by it
I feel like this attitude is just Mother fans setting themselves up for disappointment no matter what. There are plenty of weird errors, bizarre translation decisions and overall plenty of potential for improvement in the existing fan translation, people just don’t notice it because they don’t speak Japanese. I’d take losing some pop culture references for the chance for the translation to be improved upon.
@@nemesi55 Exactly! Not to mention, the dedication of those who document changes between JP and localized Mother releases is truly one of passion. It would, in my opinion, be a disservice to those who would love to discover all the little changes made for a proper localization.
@@GrimlandCS Besides, Mother 3's not nearly as referential toward modern pop culture as the other games in the series. Most of the soundtrack is either original, or inspired by classical music that's well outside of copyright anyways, for example. It would probably be a lot of fun to see the game go the Jojo localization route and just bootleg the hell out of the references that do exist, since they aren't very important anyway.
Ofc that's probably more time/money/effort than Nintendo is willing to spend for a decades old cult game, but I would say if they ever do become interested: bring on the changes! A new translation should be intended for NEW audiences, anyhow, not the same old people who have already been playing it since forever. Kicking your series-based nostalgia in the teeth is literally a plot point in Mother 3 to begin with, it would be appropriate.
Another alternative is they could create a new soundtrack for a new release of the game in a similar vein to Earthbound Beginnings. With Nintendo gaining much closer relations to creators like Tobey Fox it would be interesting to see if they utilize a partnership like that to try and maintain the spirit of the songs without necessarily copying them. I think a deal like that would likely be a cheaper alternative to licensing the older songs, at the sacrifice of it not being the "true original" game.
If Nintendo creates a Mother 3 remake with a new soundtrack by Toby Fox, you will be remembered as a prophet, Dragonite. And I will be a very, very happy Moony!
I like this idea and would also be very happy if it happened.
Toby Fox is a massive Earthbound fan; I could see few other people more suited than him for such a project!
It would be a glorious circle. Toby Fox taking inspiration from Mother, only to produce for Mother afterwards. And if so, I wish Toby remixes the original soundtrack to the extent as Earthbound where it's relatively not as obvious.
This is a weirdly genuinely possible scenario- considering both Toby's connections with Nintendo and the Mother franchise (and, more critically, the ungodly smash success of Undertale and the degree to which it's solidified Mother's place in gaming culture) it honestly seems shockingly plausible for Nintendo to go that route
Very important to insinuate the past legal and current legal systems to correlate current Nintendo’s stand on their property. Yes, they ARE aware of their fanbase and the IP they cherish. Yes, they DO know about how valuable their continued innovation is invaluable. BUT, they also know how targetable it gets if they let something slip up.
THAT is the main reason why Nintendo isn’t as loose with IP as much as Sega, because they have ALOT to lose if they let the quality slip under their standard. And I’m not saying that we can’t have both the corporate and fans be happy. But in the business world is what you’ve stated: There’s who wins the race and who loses it. And for Nintendo, even though their fans won’t be happy 100% of the time, want their business to succeed for a very long time. That’s just the facts. Anyway, thanks for the Mother 3 video. Even though it’s on this day, this is one video I’m glad is no joke. 👍
Well, IP quality, anyway.
Developmental and technical release quality they can let slip and still profit just because of how low of a bar the rest of the industry is setting most of the time.
I think theyre in the wrong still, we dont live in the 90s anymore where they were actually at risk of their IP's quality being compromised by fangames. Fangames can be and are released online distinctly from regular games, Nintendo is still stuck in this mindset where they think allowing fangames means letting a bunch of low quality clones of their games onto the market but that just hasnt been the case for a long time. For the Sega example you gave I've seen nobody confuse Sonic fangames with official Sonic games.
I also think a lot of their takedowns have to do with pride more than actual IP protection as a lot of what theyve targeted has been some of the highest quality fangames that exist out there (AM2R, Project M, Pokemon Prism...). Lower quality fangames or ROMhacks that fail to get traction tend to get left alone. For example theres a lot of low quality yet very popular Pokemon ROMhacks like Snakewood that never got targeted, yet Prism which is one of the best ones ever does. So while Nintendo claims theyre just "protecting their IP", I think they're either very stuck in the past or just straight up being dishonest.
@@ThirdXavier well the things is. the Good Romhacks get talked about a lot. while the lesser ones don't. the more you talk about something like this. the more chances for someone that works for the company to hear about it, or land on it's trail.
Lose Lips Sink Ships i guess.
Now I see why the yakuza games internationally get different intro music and themes
It's funny to rip from "Back In The USSR", when that song was more or less a style parody of the early Beach Boys, including "Surfin' USA", which got into legal trouble over it's similarities to Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen".
And Natural Cyborg's Beat It inspired riff reminded me a lot more of the opening riff to "I Saw Her Standing There".
Also, for that DBZ track that they removed because it sounded too much like Led Zeppelin, a band notorious for just taking riffs and lyrics from older artists, is kinda funny.
This was so well put together and informative. Awesome job.
Thank you, Gleepotz! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Most TH-camrs point out the Batman thing and leave at that, you're video was much more ij-depth, and I appreciate the effort.
The law focused stuff is fairly unique to this channel, and a big part of what keeps my eyes glued to the screen for the long runtimes of those videos. I adore it, really, you're showing me deep insights into things I care about a lot which I'd otherwise have no clue about. Far be it from me to say that this is your niche and no other, but it's something I like and look forward to about your content enough to comment on.
Welp. Now I _need_ Moon's thoughts on a lack of accurate translated names in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Wow this video aged poorly!
Is what I hope to say someday.
Maybe calling to SIE to get in touch with Sony Music and Universal Music for ease the music rights of the most of the copyright holders and guarantee the release of Earthbound 2, it could be a needed truce for the existence of a Western release of Mother 3.
@@Eliotime3000 record companies aren't that kind
Mood
😲
_Why?_ There's already a translation patch that was worked on by a professional localizer that not only agonized over producing a faithful translation (a rarity in modern Western localization, professional or otherwise), but worked in the context of a team that even fixed what were bugs in the original game. It's trivially easy to get a GBA emulator working, it's trivially easy to find a Mother 3 ROM (something you now have to do since it's been decades since it stopped being produced), and it's trivially easy to patch said Mother 3 ROM.
And even if there was an official English localization released for purchase, it would still more than likely be run in software emulator within whichever Nintendo console. And _why_ would NoA bother with a localization, when people made an accurate one for free? What's even to say that they won't bungle it worse than the fan translation ever could?
The 2009 iTunes bit is likely a red herring. In early 2009 iTunes ceased selling DRMed tracks in most countries (excluding Japan), and while much of the music had been replaced with unprotected files by that point, some hadn’t, and effectively disappeared from the store. For example, Angela Via’s “Catch Me If You Can” disappeared this way, and didn’t get brought back until last spring (a few months before Pokemon Puzzle League, a game it appears in, was added to Switch Online). There were similar oddities with the dub score to Pokémon 2000, the Pokémon World single, and a few other Pokémon-related tracks, so I remember it quite well. I’m guessing Mother 3 never came back because there wasn’t a perceived sufficient demand.
Basically, don’t read too much into the iTunes part. It’s probably irrelevant.
February 21 of 2024
Mother 3 was ported to nintendo switch! But not localized and only in Japan... This is truly a sad day for people who dont live in Japan :(
If you watched the video you should know they can't do anything about it. Plus you don't need to live in Japan, just have a Japanese account
@@simone5760Ohhh sure as if anyone can do that real easily!😡
@@timroehm1728 It takes 5 minutes to make a new account
@@timroehm1728it’s easy I made a Japanese account when the switch launched to play exclusive demos. I even used an America gmail account.
@timroehm1728 it's .. not hard lol
I really enjoyed how much legal information was covered in this video! Copyright law is such a complicated subject with so few people covering in-depth on TH-cam so it’s always nice when someone does do that.
I honestly would love to see more like this. While I have no experience in law myself. This does make understanding situations like this much easier for the rest of us.
Honestly man if you enjoy integrating your knowledge of the law into videos like this than I would continue to lean into your strengths! I really enjoyed this video, very informative and highly entertaining. I don’t see a lot of videos taking this approach and would rather see a creator making content that they simply enjoy making. You did an excellent job!
Yeah I agree. It’s good to get new perspectives that are normally never heard of here on TH-cam, in this case being a lawyer as their expertise in the world of law can help us understand things of this nature even more.
The video was pretty good, I loved it! My main constructive criticism is that TH-cam has a feature called "info cards" I believe, which would've let you put the links to the two Earthbound/Mother music compilations as a clickable link in the top right corner of the video rather than having to retype the link or go to the description. Thanks for the good content though ^^
I remember the Kenji Yamamoto stuff and it's a tough sell calling some of them tributes or homages. They're not far from being straight up covers.
I am glad you mentioned the blurred lines controversy. I think that is one of those situations where in retrospect the anger of it being a "rape anthem" and that a White guy got a bigger R&B hit then a lot of Black R&B artist in a genre invented by Black people rubbed some the wrong way. blinded people to the larger issue. The lawsuit that the song lost sets a horrible precedent. Assuming it happened in American courts because of the precedent set by this lawsuit Konami could theoretically sue Koji Igarashi arguing the Bloodstained is a ripoff of Castlevania and they would probably win ( this law suit would not happen in American courts I am just using it as a hypothetical)
Also more proof that it was mostly emotion driving the backlash. Robin Thick got most of the hatred for the song when TI and Pharrell Williams did most of the work writing and producing it.
I think you’re 100% right. For me any loss to him was a win, even though I knew it was ridiculous, but it was dreadful living with ptsd at that time. It was honestly not dissimilar to covid lockdowns in some ways, I stayed home a lot and struggled to go to the supermarket because of the likelihood that song would play and trigger a flashback and I know some others had a similar experience. I think that’s why there was that series of photos where women compared lines of the song to what their attackers said. It’s really sad that the case created such a ridiculous precedent for IP law though! If nintendo can’t battle it I can’t imagine how tough it is for indie devs!!! And yes that’s a good point, I’m not sure how TI and Pharrell Williams got away with it. I guess that’s why it’s always so important to take a step back even if your anger is justified. You might miss your target or unintentionally hurt others. I really hope things will be set right in IP law!
@@em6644 Your right and your comparison to lockdowns is similar. In retrospect we can all agree that people got caught up in the outrage and were so quick to act to just do something anything that a lot of innocents people got killed or hurt in the cross fire. There was this mindset at the time directed at government officials even at the smallest level that if they didn't do enough to stop people from dying of coronavirus then it was the equivalent of killing them, no politician wants to be seen as killing his people.
One example that comes to mind was the governor of New York city in the USA Andrew Cumo putting coronavirus patients in nursing homes. Elderly people are at the most risk of coronavirus and it isn't even close. In America the majority of people who died of coronavirus were 65 or older.
The reason he did this was because people were outraged at nurses in hospitals being overworked and there was some old protocol about putting patients in nursing homes when the hospitals were strained. The hospitals weren't sufficiently strained though it was.
I would be extremely interested in a video about Japan's copyright law. America's copyright system is absolutely infuriating and it might be nice to see what, from your brief description, seems like a much more reasonable alternative.
Edit: also the Andy Warhol case
Hey, Japanese copyright law also leaves many safe for work doujinshis of anime shows and mangas alone. It’s mainly because its lawyers know that they’re derivative and unofficial works made by artists and their fans for fellow fans and fellow artists. Cool.
American "copyright" is literally just corporate bribery with little to no actual law
Then again we're talking about a corporate oligarchy not a legitimate nation state
@@SlapstickGenius23 basically, what japanese copyright law does, is that you don't have to DEFEND your copyright to keep it, so there is no reason for most people to defend it unless and untill it actually becomes an issue for them.
also it usually keeps the NSFW alone too, since that has higher demand and profit for the artists, and more importantly, most current artists started thier careers as doujin writers.
The anime industry as a whole knows that going after doijins means the collapse of the industry 10 years down the line due to the collapse in the influx of new talent.
@@commisaryarreck3974oh please
@@djhjh9686
To claim otherwise is wilful ignorance friend
If and when Mother 3 does release in the west (which I believe will happen on NSO), we can all confirm this was a high quality April Fool’s Day video. 😊
It did come to NSO…but it’s only playable if you have a Japanese profile.
I genuinely do love the law-based videos. You use your expertise to answer questions that fans have had that a layman can't. It's both informative and entertaining.
Also your two ending bits where you quote Pollyanna and then have the "where mother 3?" fakeout helped pull me out of a funk, thank you!
The phantom of the opera reference alone is enough to sink it. NUMEROUS artists including Pink Floyd have been sued for writing stuff similar to the chord progression in the main theme of Phantom.
Phantom's main theme is a riff on Bach's "Tocata and Fugue in D Minor."
I don't care if it's an extremely well known public domain work that's been used to death, I want zombie Bach to knock some sense into Weber.
@TransDrummer1312 Actually, one of the songs fron Phantom of the Opera has a suspicious amount of similarities from Pink Floyd's song Echoes with regards to chord changes and things, but the guy who played bass guitar with the band when Echoes was recorded has openly said he doesn't want to sue because it sets a bad precedent.
You could've mentioned that some of Mother 3's music got remixed in Super Smash Bros., including "You Call This A Utopia" which still has the section that sounds like the 20th Century Fox theme. This theme kept being included up to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, none of the other 3 tracks seem to be problematic.
I hope your content continues. I really enjoy it. It’s some of the better long-essay content here.
This is a great video, gave me a new perspective on why the game had been dormant in the US for years
As someone who is a fan of "legal tube" channels like Lawful Masses and Legal Eagle, this was just the right amount of "legal density" mixed with gaming history.
It is February 21, 2024, a partner direct released today, and Mother 3 was revealed to be releasing on Nintendo Switch Online... in Japan only. I'm rewatching this video to remember the possible reasons why this will never leave japanese shores. At this point, I think the only way Mother 3 gets localized is if gets remade with a new soundtrack.
Excellent videos, one of the few on this topic that actually bases informations on proper sources and not just assumptions.
For the last part of the video, I'm personally very interested in legal topics
I'm confused as to how something like Doom has been able to be legally re-released in the US then, considering half its soundtrack are just unauthorized MIDI covers of Slayer and Pantera songs.
The amount of law-based content in this video was not only fine, but absolutely welcome. Your insight was both valuable, and enjoyable to listen to. With that said, your insightful demeanor and excellent presentation of topics means that I would be extremely interested in all content you produce, regardless of its connection to legal matters, as long as it focused on video games. Hope this offers some insight into what I hope for/expect from this channel!
I'm ever thankful for these kinds of videos, and this one is particularly important for many Nintendo fans. It's hard for people who haven't studied a subject to truly understand a situation and this is true of many things in every day life. I spend my days currently teaching people how to use a computer, and much like the level of "out of depth" that my patrons are, I am particularly so with the law, and I would imagine a lot of other people are too. This is a level of closure for Mother 3 that I never expected to receive, thank you for all your work.
You provide some very detailed, eye-opening content on this channel. I really like the way you tackle some long-standing industry topics and give people a new lens to view them through.
I really enjoyed this video a lot. It's a refreshing thing to go from conjecture from people who know nothing about law to one where a lawyer completely breaks down the subject. Take my sub.
I loved this video. I was always confused as to why exactly they never localized it, but having listened to the Nintendo and Sega IP videos you also did, it made me realize just how many hurdles Nintendo would have to go through
6:00
I am SO happy that 2.5 of my fav topics (games, music, and criminal justice) are all blending together. Only you, Moon. Thanks for this 😊🙏🏾
At this point... the series is just do for a remake entirely. Lets see the characters be remade into 3D with an entire overhaul of just almost everything we loved in the originals.
So Earthbound 64 basically?
searched "kenji yamamoto" in my music folder and it turns out he also worked on super metroid.
Different guy that shares the name.
Another excellent video! Thanks Moony! I enjoy both your insight as a lawyer AND your interests in gaming in general. I'm sure no matter what projects you have in the works, they will be worth my time and they will be entertaining as well! I'd go so far as to say you're an inspiration! ✨🤓
Sales pitch for atlas vpn: uses the track “buy something, will ya?” I see you Mooney
This reminds me of the controversy surrounding the soundtrack of Dragonball Z Budokai 3. Nonetheless I appreciate this dialogue on Mother 3’s localization hell, it makes so much sense now!
Believe it or not, the Budokai 3 soundtrack controversy is alluded to in the video! It's related to the example used for other times in which Japanese composers have run afoul of this same issue.
Kenji Yamamoto, the example in question, also composed music for Budokai 3! And his "tributes" were the reason the soundtrack controversy existed!
You can read a bit more about Kenji Yamamoto here:
www.kanzenshuu.com/features/kenji-yamamoto-retrospective/
@@moon-channel Wow like you said it’s all connected. The most bewildering thing is that if you grabbed an unknowing casual fan of any of these games, they would immediately mention how great their music was 😅I definitely second that Mother 3 hands down had the best soundtrack on the gameboy advance!
I really enjoyed this video and the format, and you make a good argument. To the last question, there are tons of VG channels just talking about games, but your games + law intersection gives you a unique gimmick. I'd say stick with this, unless your metrics really say otherwise.
Thank you for the insight, Jason! I'd like to do more non-legal videos as well, but it seems the audience very strongly prefers legal videos!
@@moon-channel I second that, keep doing what you’re doing. More people who don’t look behind the glass needs to know information like this so they know how to approach a company’s product. Maybe as more people understand it, the perspective of Nintendo’s ‘Harsh’ nature will change. After all, a business is run by people who do have passion and desire to grow, varying from business to business. For Nintendo, it’s their entertainment legacy.
The video is fantastic! I think the law focused content really carves out a unique niche for the channel since you're so well versed on it. I love the direction the channel is currently going and I hope you stick with it!
I'm personally loving the law based stuff, it's a cool angle that I don't get to see very much in other people's videos! I love your videos with lighter topics as well! This is an awesome video, thank you.
It's interesting reading Moony's profile about how he enjoys making wholesome and relaxing videos about games and law. I find this video very distressing, along with the American legal system in general.
I prefer to make relaxing videos, and I hope this video, in general, can still be relaxing! But, I will admit that I also find the state of modern American IP law to indeed be quite distressing.
I've known about all the homages in Mother 3 for years and even though I knew that the real reason we were never going to get this game would be corporate ones I'm still disappointed.
It's honestly pretty sad since i 've been an Earthbound Nerd for almost a decade and kinda feel really alone since i feel like the only person who know about this masterpiece of a game. The only thing that can help this game is to wait for a miracle to happened.
Best case scenario to still hold out on for a potential translation, is the fact that so many games only sold officially in Asia and Japan now, do include many times an English option. There is always the possibility that say, hypothetically, Nintendo released a Mother Trilogy collection only in Japan, but it includes non-Japanese translation options in it. It would likely be less incentive for them to make one since it would be a smaller group outside of Japan aware of it, but it would allow them to skirt around the legal technicalities by it officially being a Japan only release.
This was really interesting, stopped what I was doing to see this. Would love to see more details about the Japanese and international copyright system, I've seen a great price by Tom Scott before, but nothing really explaining the Japanese approach
Thanks a lot for the video
Springboarding off this, one thing I've wondered about is how Koichi Sugiyama was able to block S-E from using his orchestral Dragon Quest soundtracks in US releases of (some) DQ games. It's hard to believe a composer-for-hire would be able to hold his music hostage like that, but that's apparently what happened.
@@jasonblalock4429 Thank god he's dead. I just hope that his estate isn't as spiteful and nationalistic as he was.
@@jasonblalock4429 From memory that's because the contract he signed predated the whole Square Enix merger and the terms from back then wasn't a work for hire deal and he kept the rights to the music he made.
This is by far the best video I have seen on this topic, and it absolutely breaks my heart, but also puts it to rest. Thank you.
If you're looking for a good video to do about japanese copyright law, I recommend going over the unique copyright situation with Jojo's bizarre adventure. It highlights the differences between the Japanese and American legal systems in a really interesting way
"Filthy Acts at a Reasonable Price"
"Maiden Heaven"
Imo qthe jojo eng translations make the best of the situation, they usually have more better stand renames than terrible ones- maiden heaven is a good one that sounds the same as the original and in some cases are better than them like netherworld. Very interesting
I'm a bit late to commenting, but just wanted to share how much fun this to listen to and I actually use part of this video in my music appreciation classes to discuss musical copyright law. The breakdown of the Marvin Gaye Estate / Pharrell Williams case is great for explaining why I'm so careful in my classrooms about copyright law.
There is a massive point you missed in the video, and that was that the music track “You Call This a Utopia?!” Is in every official English release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and onwards. If that music track is copyrighted, how can they use the track in the English version of Smash?
Another example of a recent lawsuit similar to the "Blurred Lines"/"Got to Give It Up" fiasco is "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Even worse is that several bands filed lawsuits against them for infringing their songs which have the same style, 80s-style funk. They all won their respective lawsuits, it's absurd I swear.
Come OOOON where's the april fools catch? The Greek Critique had me and by 20mins on this one I was hoping it would happen! Do you have any JoJo content planned for the future? It's an anime chock-full of references to bands.
I remember the Kenji Yamamoto thing. I didn't notice as a kid because he mainly used older songs as "inspiration" for his work. When the Budokai 1&3 remaster was released, they had to change the music there, too, because of his plagiarism. Imagine having to change an entire soundtrack because of potential plagiarism while keeping the same feel. That's what Mother 3 would have to go through.
I was not expecting such a quality video on April Fool's Day, but I'm glad to watch it! And I would love to see a video about the Japanese copyright system. I've noticed myself how it can sometimes be seemingly very lenient and sometimes seemingly very strict. So I would love a breakdown of it on here.
Silky smooth documentary voice, well written scripts, and then a lawyer on top of that. Where do you find the time to...lawyer?
I love how informative your videos are and it is so good to see someone so passionate explaining things in a way that a layman can understand. I recall that for a while people thought Nintendo didn't want to translate Mother 3 because it was the end of the GBA circle along with the Earthbound stink in the SNES era, but the truth is far more complex.
Brooo the phantom mention broke me, I played the melody it took from as a solo in college band. Thats such a sick find
The blurred lines case was incredibly stupid to the layman and the fact that they had awarded the estate for a song that did not have much in common musically other than the theme was crazy
I think you did a very good job compiling the legal background to understand Mother 3's situation, I myself was laughed when I heard Beat It. And the law-heaviness wasn't an issue, these things take explaining and I like understanding why something is rather than a just tl;dr most of the time. Exploring this blurry area of legality when it comes to copyright over artistic works (particularly music) could possibly be a niche this channel could fulfill. Not sure how much mileage you could get from it, but I am very open to more things like that.
I think you fill such a great unlooked niche with video game content, because it really is just another industry at the end of the day. I think it is something that there is not too much content on (at least from my personal browsing on video game related topics). You've really painted a great picture with concrete statements on something as abstract as IP Laws (ownership of ideas is still relatively lost on me, even in a lot of ways against a lot of it still, as it seems like things get worse because of it). I personally love a lot more of the law-based content! It really makes a lot of cumbersome concepts pretty cut & dry by the way you go about describing these circumstances!
In Japan the parody clause was change to Gintama clause since 2003.
LOVE your style - please, continue deep diving the legal waters of our game industry - it's utterly fascinating! Today (on discovering your channel), watched right through a few of your videos and was captivated. Essentially, what TH-cam needs most isn't more pandering to the 98.71% of viewers who need and get tits, explosions, memes and sock puppets... in other words, just keep doing what you're doing.
Thank you, Cassius! That was mighty kind of you. I hope that my videos can continue to live up to your expectations!
Sending this video to a lot of people today....
Fantastic video and presentation! Congrats on your sponsorship! Just when I'm in the market for a new VPN too. 👏🤓
Thank you, Indie! It's kind of you to say so!
24:18 The second musical reference in Mr. Batty's Twist isn't from Phantom of the Opera. It's Go Kart Twist by Gianni Morandi. Both songs even have "Twist" in their name.
I really love your channel and content! Feels like 40 minutes just flew by, great stuff!
I appreciate the legal-heavy videos you produce. Your series on IP in Nintendo and Sony games have motivated me to concentrate in IP Law (when I reach 2L ofc).
Thank you for your sharing your passions in such an entertaining and informative package!
Aged like fine wine
Everyone complaining on Twitter, Reddit, and TH-cam should watch this video. I understand the frustrating but people need to understand that this game is simply just not worth localizing for Nintendo.
You are such a good lawyer!!!
Congrats on the shoutout on TechLinked! Haven't watched yet, I've been busy this past week and I'm waiting for a moment of rest to really appreciate the info you lay out before us, but I did put on TechLinked while brushing my teeth just now and I was happy to hear them reference you! And made me even more curious to watch... Soon!
I hope a remake (ala Links Awakening or better ) comes later down the line for all of the Mother/Earthbound series. especially for Mother 3, being able to remake and update music to hopefully fix the legal stuff? thanks disney 😒