The Legal Reasons Why Mother 3 Will Never Be Localized
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Why hasn't Mother 3 been localized in the West?
I'm Moony: a lawyer. This is our most law heavy video to date. We will take an in depth look into the modern state of music copyright law, including topics such as fair use, parody, sampling, and more -- you might even learn some music theory and business philosophy!
All this, to understand why Nintendo will NEVER release Mother 3 in the West... at least, not in the way that it currently exists!
I apologize for the sound quality in parts, by the way -- I'm afraid I've been sick the past week, and as such, all the recorded audio is first take only!
10% of Moon Channel's Revenue goes to charity: including our sponsorship income! We are currently supporting Doctors Without Borders (MCF). You can learn more about Doctors Without Borders at www.msf.org/.
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Please also consider supporting Moon Channel on Patreon!
/ moonchannelyt
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:58 - Internet Privacy/Atlas VPN
02:59 - Blurred Lines Lawsuit Background
07:29 - The State of Modern Music Copyright Law
12:03 - The Legal Pitfalls of Earthbound/Mother 2
16:52 - How Earthbound Got Around Its Legal Issues/Sampling
19:34 - The Legal Pitfalls of Mother 3
25:43 - Example of Musical "Tributes" Causing Legal Trouble In Japan
27:07 - Legal Differences Between Mother 2 and Mother 3 Tributes
28:38 - Mother 3's Soundtrack Releases As Evidence
31:29 - Why is Mother 3 OK in Japan?/Japanese Law
34:07 - Editor's Note from Sick Moony
34:39 - Conclusion/Other Issues With Mother 3
36:51 - Post Script
37:56 - Credits Gag
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Additional Reading:
PLEASE Check Out:
starmen.net/
The internet's best source of Mother/Earthbound info.!
Pharrell Williams, et. al. v. Bridgeport Music, Inc.:
cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.l...
9th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision in Williams v. Gaye:
cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.l...
The "Blurred Lines" Verdict: What It Means For Music Now and In the Future
copyright.nova.edu/blurred-lin...
The Man Who Wrote Earthbound:
kotaku.com/the-man-who-wrote-...
MOTHER2/Earthbound - Samples used in the soundtrack:
• MOTHER2/EarthBound - S...
All Known Musical References in MOTHER 3 (Almost!):
• All Known Musical Refe...
Kenji Yamamoto Retrospective:
www.kanzenshuu.com/features/k...
Fundamental Concepts in Japanese & American Copyright Law:
www.softic.or.jp/en/articles/...
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The Track List, by Fan Request:
Sorry, I had to get rid of the timestamps; they were messing with the chapters!
(1) Mother 3 Love Theme - Mother 3;
(2) Buy Somethin' Will Ya! - Earthbound;
(3) • [FREE DL] Robin Thicke...
(4) Magypsy Party - Mother 3;
(5) • [FREE DL] Robin Thicke... [reprise];
(6) Gentle Rain - Mother 3;
(7) Onett Theme - Earthbound;
(8) Boy Meets Girls (Twoson) - Earthbound;
(9) Happy Town - Mother 3;
(10) Fun Bazaar - Mother 3;
(11) Mischievous Blues - Mother 3;
(12) Mr. Batty Twist - Mother 3;
(13) New Porky Bossa - Mother 3;
(14) Battle Against a Weak Opponent - Earthbound;
(15) Mom's Hometown - Mother 3;
(16) Acid Tunnel Of Love - Deltarune;
(17) Mother 3 Love Theme - Mother 3;
(18) Pollyanna (I Believe in You) - Mother;
(19) Wess Dance - Mother 3.
Track playlists and additional reading resources might someday be a Patreon reward!
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Subtitles by: James Hugh
(Thank you, James!) - เกม
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.
I think a very notable thing about Nintendo and its stance on Mother 3 is the fact the this company who is so trigger-happy with C&Ds has left the Mother 3 translation patch alone. It is by no means some obscure project beneath Big N's notice and the team actually reached out to Nintendo to offer the localization work they did on the game for free to release commercially. To me it feels like this blind eye is the bone they throw to western gamers who want to play the game.
And if what I remember is correct, they can't have a problem with "Mother 3 translation" because legally there is no such thing as Mother 3 or EarthBound 2 in the west, so the image of their IP cannot be corrupted, unlike what has been done with AM2R which is a fan remake of a game that was localized.
Patches are relatively legal, it is mostly ROM distribution and fangames that use copyrighted concepts that are an issue.
If we explain this in Moon’s style, we can say Nintendo just don’t really care about loosing the rights for Mother I think.
As in, it’s a series that have quite some fans but no one will never be allowed to release anything or profit anything from it anyway.
Thus there is no reason to defend this IP. Every action taken to defend an IP generates a lot of bad PR that costs real money and resources to compensate for. So there isn’t reason to defend a valueless IP like Mother.
Translation patches are 100% legal and there are ample legal precedents to support that.
Dont know guys, legality never stopped these companies from flailing their "girth" around. They can bully whoever they want.
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.
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
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.
@@MarbelSoda 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???
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
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.
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).
As another timeline's Ryan George has said, our timeline is the dumbest of them all.
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
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
The theory is more appealing more than ever. Now is also Japan Switch exclusive….
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.
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…
"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
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 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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
This was so well put together and informative. Awesome job.
Thank you, Gleepotz! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
and this video just became relevant again.
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
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.
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
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.
Wait; wait; wait…you’re an attorney, AND can explain music theory? I see this going places in the future. 👍
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 hope your content continues. I really enjoy it. It’s some of the better long-essay content here.
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.
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.
Excellent video. I always had a feeling that Nintendo has a good reason not to localize Mother 3, but this goes into great detail. I love the legal details. It shows that there are real people making real decisions and not companies being spiteful.
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
This video aged like fine wine
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 😊🙏🏾
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.
I really love your channel and content! Feels like 40 minutes just flew by, great stuff!
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.
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.
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?
I'm loving this line of connected themes and information between videos. It feels like there's a major storyline going through the channel and I'm here to see the beginning of it.
37:28 I really enjoy the legal talk! you present it in an understandable, unbiased, and entertaining way!
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.
This is a great video, gave me a new perspective on why the game had been dormant in the US for years
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! ✨🤓
Great follow-up to Nerrel's video, glad I subbed!
Really well made video! Mother 3’s one of my favorite… THINGS ever and seeing a really well put together legal analysis like this about the music specifically is something i’ve never seen too much focus on, and you managed to put it all in a way someone like me can understand. Good job!
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
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!
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.
These videos are the best. It wasnt too technical and had enough information and was clear to understand. I didnt even think about becoming a lawyer till i saw this whole channel. You are doing something right with these videos. Keep it up!
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 ^^
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 is my first video ever from this channel and I'm immediately hooked. This is really informative and unique content!
you do such a great job of explaining the law content! no way I'd have these little insights into the mechanics of law if it weren't for these amazing videos
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 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
I only discovered your channel a few months ago (seems like everyone else did too, lol) and it's quickly become one of my absolute favorites. awesome video, thank u bless u
I really liked this video! This is a type of content that I have never really seen before on youtube. I loved the way you explained the legal concepts that would go into localizing the game and the first 10 minutes of the video giving some examples of the precedents of music copyright law were really interesting. I would love to see a video of you explaining japanese copyright law.
Damn I LOVED this video! This is the first of your videos I've watched, I found you through reddit. You just earned a new suscriber thanks to the quality of the writing, your amazing skills explaining complicated terms and how you are helping to clear up a lot of misconceptions. Keep up the good work!
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!
Loved the video and the content for which you are uniquely qualified to present. You made semi-complicated legal cases and issues easy to understand and follow.
Love this! I found your channel yesterday and it is the precise intersection of the topics that are near and dear to my heart: games (or video game history/legacy) and law. As a law student, I'd argue the more legal stuff the better!
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.
Aged like fine wine
I really love the law based parts of the video. I find it so interesting. Please keep doing these kinds of videos!
I only found this channel recently, but these videos are really interested and informational. I definitely did not mind the legal talk, it was nice to have you explain it.
Excellent video! And to answer your question I'm totally happy with legal, or not legal topics
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.
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.
Genuinely great commentary here. Enjoyed the balance of both game information and legal information!
Keep up the great work!
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!
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
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 am so happy I found this channel. I havent felt so calm watching videos in awhile hehe :D
This video was very informative and took the direction of copyright in an interesting case I never even knew of for the game. It makes me appreciate the game even more knowing all of the great musical details now laced in. It’s such a pipe dream we will get it in the west one day but we can hope. Also the legal talk was informative and educational even for someone who is not knowledgeable in the subject like me. Great video!
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.
Immensely informative and quite easy to understand. Thank you for the insight.
How interesting that it majorly comes down to how much it would cost to have a legally safe release of the game due to one of its most beautiful aspects, being the music.
I had become mostly jaded to the idea of an official release of the title, but somehow still held hope that it could one day come to fruition. Well consider those hopes dashed by the full extent of the law.
I'll just do my part and continue to encourage the series and recommend it to people.
Hello!!! I have recently discovered your channel and it is amazing. The legal aspects are fascinating to hear about it. Keep up the great work ❤
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 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 really enjoyed this video. Your videos are great at teaching. These questions one always had on their minds are now answered with logic. It is eye opening!
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.
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.
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.
I enjoy your law based video format and the legal insight that you share with us. Thank you.
The best video I've seen yet discussing this topic!! You've don't great work here to help educate others on this long standing issue. It's still my favorite game after all these years.
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.
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 was a great explanation - I like how much research you put into these