Super Mario 64 Online taken down by Nintendo copyright strikes (update)

Nintendo made multiple copyright strikes against the well known ROM hacker who most recently revealed Super Mario 64 Online. One of the copyright strikes took out his Patreon account.

Kaze Emanuar, in comments to Polygon, said Patreon told him copyright claims from Nintendo were behind that takedown, even though he said his Patreon donations were “100 percent independent of [Super Mario Online].”

Additionally, several — but not all — videos of his Super Mario 64 creations were taken down from YouTube. Instructions and links for downloading the ROM hacks were in those videos’ about boxes, and the takedown means that information is gone as well.

The source code and ROM hack files are still available through the Super Mario 64 Online site, though one has to register in their forums for access.

“I thought that was just a way to tell me to stop working on that, since I thought taking down the tool itself was legally impossible,” Emanuar told Polygon. “After all, that’s just my own code. Kind of like ‘Stop developing this or we shut this channel down.’ Or, that is, what it felt like.

“They’ve managed to take some old files from the [Super Mario 64 Online] tool, though, and I really don’t want to get into a legal argument with Nintendo,” he added.

Polygon reached out to a Nintendo representative for comment on the matter; none was received at publication time.

As for the Patreon, Emanuar said he also is “not gonna dive into legal stuff,” about Nintendo’s takedown there. He said that the money he made off the Patreon was not his livelihood. “I knew that this happening was a possibility,” he said. “I’m financially stable. It is kind of like a side job to me.”

Super Mario 64 Online was revealed last week; it allowed up to 24 players to play together in the Mushroom Kingdom. Before it was taken down, it had pulled in more than one million views.

Super Mario 64 followed ROM hacks for Super Mario 64 Maker; a replication of Cappy’s takeover feature in the upcoming Super Mario Odyssey; and Super Mario 64: Last Impact. Videos for all of these remain live on YouTube.

“I would expect them to take down the file uploads or something,” Emanuar said, “but they took down my videos and I thought I would have to stop uploading anything showcasing [Super Mario 64] gameplay.”

Emanuar said he wants to keep on with his creations. “I’ll try removing anything that could be considered infinging from my Patreon,” he said, in hopes of getting it back.

Update: A Nintendo representative replied with the following statement:

“Nintendo’s broad library of characters, products, and brands are enjoyed by people around the world, and we appreciate the passion of our fans. But just as Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of others, we must also protect our own characters, trademarks and other content.”