{"id":21570,"date":"2022-12-07T06:33:11","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T06:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/07\/nintendo-power-scans-disappeared-from-the-internet-archive\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T06:33:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T06:33:11","slug":"nintendo-power-scans-disappeared-from-the-internet-archive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/07\/nintendo-power-scans-disappeared-from-the-internet-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nintendo Power\u2019 Scans Disappeared From The Internet Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the nintendon’t<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

It was only some weeks back that we were discussing<\/a> how a group of hobbyists were once again doing the culture preservation work that content creators should be doing in the form of a scan of every single Nintendo Power<\/em> magazine and uploading it to the Internet Archive. At the time, you could go to the link for the project and view every magazine\u2019s contents in its full antiquated glory. I finished that post off with the following line after ruminating that the view on this by Nintendo should<\/em> be that this is pure preservation and not some kind of threat to its current business operations:<\/p>\n

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Hopefully Nintendo can manage to see that as well. Somehow, though, I suspect the lawyers already have pen to paper.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But, as I\u2019m fond of saying, Nintendo is going to Nintendo. If you go to the site for the project now<\/a>, you\u2019ll see that the content has been replaced with a notice indicating that the content has been taken down. Annoyingly, the text displayed now doesn\u2019t detail out why<\/em> it\u2019s been taken down, but rather indicates a bunch of possible reasons: TOS violations, a decision by the uploader, etc. Because of that, I can\u2019t say for sure that Nintendo\u2019s lawyers got involved to get this content taken down, but it\u2019s a pretty safe bet. Why?<\/p>\n

Well, because the company has done this exact thing before<\/a>. At that link, you can read a Wired post on how Nintendo took down 140 issues worth of scans, also from the Internet Archive, back in 2016.<\/p>\n

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The 140+ issues of classic gaming magazine\u00a0Nintendo Power\u00a0that were uploaded to the Internet Archive are once again the preserve of physical collectors and forgotten boxes stashed in attics. Nintendo, the original publisher of the title, has had the digital collection pulled.<\/em><\/p>\n

While no formal announcement has been given on the takedown, Nintendo of America\u00a0told Polygon<\/a>\u00a0that it must \u201cprotect our own characters, trademarks and other content\u201d and \u201cthe unapproved use of Nintendo\u2019s intellectual property can weaken our ability to protect and preserve it, or to possibly use it for new projects.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s clear here is that either Nintendo requested the content be taken down directly or either the Internet Archive or the uploader did so purely out of fear of Nintendo\u2019s lawyers. Either way, as I\u2019m often wont to do, I am happy to blame Nintendo for this.<\/p>\n

And you really do have to keep it in your head that there both is no threat to Nintendo for not figuring out a way to allow this to exist, nor is Nintendo doing anything itself to achieve the same preservation efforts that the upload achieved. It\u2019s not like there\u2019s an official Nintendo site out there where all of this culture is being preserved. If there were, the IA.org scans wouldn\u2019t need to exist.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a net loss for culture, all because Nintendo just can\u2019t stop being Nintendo.<\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: archives<\/a>, copyright<\/a>, nintendo power<\/a>, terms of service<\/a>, trademark<\/a>
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Companies: nintendo<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n