A Fake Nintendo Lawyer Is Scaring Youtubers, And It’s Not Clear Youtube Can Stop Him

In precocious September, Dominik “Domtendo” Neumayer received a troubling email. He had conscionable featured The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom successful a bid of videos connected his YouTube channel. Now, those videos were gone. 

“Some of your videos personification been removed,” YouTube explained matter-of-factly. The email said that Domtendo had now received a brace of copyright strikes. He was now conscionable 1 copyright onslaught distant from losing his 17-year-old transmission and nan complete 1.5 cardinal subscribers he’d built up. 

At least, he would personification been, if Domtendo hadn’t spotted point fishy astir nan takedown announcement — something YouTube had missed. 

Domtendo had been a mini spot confused correct from nan start; the strikes didn’t make sense. Like countless different creators, Domtendo specializes successful “Let’s Play” videos, a well-established genre wherever streamers play done nan entirety of a crippled connected camera.

Nintendo has a analyzable narration pinch nan fans who usage its copyrighted works, infamously shutting down each sorts of unauthorized projects by sending cease-and-desists. It has gone aft YouTubers, too. But immoderate nan Japanese gaming elephantine and nan broader gaming manufacture typically clip disconnected Let’s Plays alone, because they work arsenic free trading for their games.

And yet, YouTube had received a legit-looking petition apparently justifying these takedowns nether nan Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), signed “Tatsumi Masaaki, Nintendo Legal Department, Nintendo of America.”

It was successful a 2nd email from YouTube that Domtendo spotted point off. The takedown requests came from a individual narration astatine an encrypted email service: “[email protected]”.

Fake takedowns are real. YouTube says complete six percent of takedown requests done its nationalist webform are apt fake, and nan institution accepts requests via plain email too, meaning anyone tin grounds them. Fighting clone takedowns tin costs creators time, money, and stress. But creators can’t easy beryllium judge that a takedown is clone — and they tin suffer their afloat transmission if they get it incorrect and conflict pinch a institution that has a morganatic copyright claim.

When nan well-respected Retro Game Corps received his 2nd Nintendo copyright strike, he publically declared he would self-censor each his early activity to hopefully formation nan company’s wrath. But first, he checked that Nintendo’s threat was real. He checked to spot who YouTube listed arsenic nan complaining party, and that it came from a Nintendo email address. Then he checked pinch his YouTube Partner Manager to beryllium different safe.

Rumors of clone Nintendo takedowns personification swirled successful nan past. Earlier this year, Garry’s Mod developer Garry Newman removed 20 years’ worthy of Nintendo-related instrumentality contented from his sandbox video crippled complete takedown threats. Fans speculated that it whitethorn really personification been personification posing arsenic a Nintendo lawyer. But Newman yet revealed Nintendo was legitimately down those takedowns contempt utilizing seemingly suspicious names and emails.

Domtendo thought he mightiness personification an existent suit of a Nintendo faker. So he decided to push back. At first, it seemed to work. He emailed YouTube, and it soon reinstated his videos. But Tatsumi was backmost nan adjacent clip — this time, emailing Domtendo directly. 

“Dear Domtendo, I correspond Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”) successful intelligence spot matters,” nan first email began. After a bunch of legalese, Tatsumi yet explains why he’s reaching out: “I submitted a announcement done YouTube’s ineligible copyright system, but nan infringing contented still appears.”

He wouldn’t fto it go. 

Domtendo wasn’t astir to consequence his livelihood conscionable successful suit Tatsumi was real. He sewage spooked, and began voluntarily pulling his videos disconnected YouTube. But his caller pen pal conscionable kept asking for overmuch removals. Tatsumi reached retired clip aft day, sometimes aggregate times a day, according to emails shared pinch The Verge. The threats sewage weirder, too:

October 3rd:

I inquire for your expeditious removal of each infringing worldly that usage Nintendo Switch crippled emulators by 6th October 2024. Please connection that nan magnitude of videos infringing Nintendo’s copyrights is excessively precocious to beryllium tin to database them each successful this email and we dream that you will conscientiously region each infringing videos earlier nan adjacent week. 

October 8th: 

Nintendo hereby prohibits you from immoderate early usage of its intelligence and copyrighted property. Existing contented whitethorn enactment arsenic agelong arsenic location is nary petition to region it. Nintendo of America Inc. would for illustration to debar further ineligible action and truthful hopes that their intelligence spot will nary longer beryllium utilized by you. This cease-and-desist declaration is valid instantly and has been approved by President of Nintendo of America Doug Spencer Bowser.

October 12th: 

Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”) will nary longer tolerate this behaviour and is now connected nan verge of filing a lawsuit. Note that we activity intimately pinch our subsidiary Nintendo of Europe, located successful Germany and truthful already personification your reside from nan clip you personification been Nintendo Partner and/or will personification your caller reside from nan residents’ registration office.”

Domtendo began reaching retired to friends and chap contented creators, and discovered he wasn’t alone. Waikuteru, a streamer who develops Zelda mods, had been targeted by Tatsumi arsenic well. Only that time, nan takedown notices were revenge successful Japanese, and YouTube claimed they’d recreation from a seemingly existent email address: [email protected]. Whoever submitted those notices claimed to beryllium a “Group Sub-Manager” successful Nintendo’s “Intellectual Property Department.” 

Could Tatsumi beryllium legit? Was Domtendo staring down a existent threat? 

The Verge could find nary nationalist grounds of a Tatsumi Masaaki moving for Nintendo of America aliases Nintendo’s ineligible team, period. Nintendo did not respond to The Verge’s repeated requests to fact-check whether specified a lawyer moreover exists. 

But location was a personification by a akin punishment moving connected Nintendo exertion patents successful its location authorities of Japan, nationalist records show, and Domtendo was dismayed to find a Nintendo email reside for that personification connected nan nationalist web. 

To a trained eye, location were signs that Domtendo’s “Tatsumi” was astir apt a fake. What business would a Japanese crippled exertion inventor personification individually chasing down a German YouTuber and threatening them pinch nan laws of nan United States? If they were a existent lawyer, wouldn’t they cognize that threatening Domtendo pinch DMCA 512 is laughable, because that’s nan accusation of nan norm that protects platforms for illustration YouTube alternatively than individual creators? 

But Domtendo didn’t want to return nan risk, not without proof. His livelihood was astatine stake. So arsenic Tatsumi’s email threats rolled in, he reached retired to Nintendo himself. 

To his awesome surprise, Nintendo replied. 

“Please connection that [email protected] is not a morganatic Nintendo email reside and nan specifications contained incorrect nan relationship do not align pinch Nintendo of America Inc.’s enforcement practices. We are investigating further,” nan company’s ineligible conception wrote connected October 10th, according to a screenshot shared pinch The Verge.

Even then, Domtendo didn’t consciousness safe. He’d seen really Waikuteru had received a ineligible threat that seemingly came from a morganatic Nintendo email. Perhaps Tatsumi conscionable wasn’t utilizing his owed email account? Domtendo tried emailing “[email protected]” to find out. 

His interest ratcheted moreover higher erstwhile Tatsumi’s adjacent email arrived, asking him not to nonstop email to that address. “Please understand that matters are not presently handled from there,” he wrote. Even though it seemed intolerable that Tatsumi could beryllium real, he someway knew things that he shouldn’t.

Then, connected October 18th, Tatsumi abruptly changed his tune: “Dear Domtendo, I hereby retract each of my preceding claims.”

Tatsumi wasn’t done pinch Domtendo alternatively yet. Two overmuch emails arrived nan aforesaid day, explaining that while Nintendo had “suspended” him from filing copyright infringement claims, his Nintendo colleagues would now grounds them connected his behalf. Hours later, Domtendo received what was successful immoderate ways nan astir legit-looking email yet, seemingly sent from [email protected] alternatively than a individual email address. 

But that email turned retired to beryllium Tatsumi’s undoing, erstwhile Domtendo checked nan headers and discovered they’d spoofed Nintendo’s email reside utilizing a publically disposable instrumentality connected nan web. I took nan instrumentality for a spin, and judge tin — unless you check, anyone tin make an email look for illustration it was sent from Nintendo that way. 

Domtendo still doesn’t understand really “Tatsumi” knew he’d emailed nan existent Tatsumi astatine Nintendo. He changed his passwords and reformatted his computer, conscionable to beryllium safe. Today, his champion conjecture is that nan troll was lurking successful his individual Discord channel. 

He’s angry astatine YouTube for letting this happen. “It’s their fault,” he tells me. “Every idiot tin onslaught each YouTuber and location is astir nary problem to do so. It’s insane,” he writes. “It has to alteration NOW.”

It’s existent location isn’t a terribly precocious barroom to taxable a YouTube copyright claim, point that YouTube itself admits. Currently, bad actors conscionable petition to tin successful a style connected a website, a spot wherever YouTube sees a “10 times higher attempted maltreatment rate” than devices pinch overmuch constricted access. Or they tin conscionable email YouTube’s copyright conception directly. And while nan rule technically requires a copyright holder to proviso their punishment and reside and authorities “under reward of perjury” that they’re authorized to footwear connected Nintendo’s behalf, there’s point compelling YouTube to cheque they aren’t lying earlier slapping creators pinch penalties. 

The constituent to retrieve is nan DMCA’s “Safe Harbor” isn’t coming to protect creators, EFF ineligible caput Corynne McSherry explained to maine successful 2022. When rightsholders realized they wouldn’t beryllium tin to writer each uploader, and nett platforms realized they wouldn’t beryllium tin to past nether an onslaught of uploader lawsuits, nan norm became a talk to protect platforms from liability arsenic agelong arsenic they region infringing contented fast.

“It creates a business wherever activity providers personification very beardown incentives to respond,” said McSherry. “They don’t want to messiness astir and effort to fig retired if they mightiness beryllium liable aliases not.”

Waikuteru and Rimea, a brace of different creators harassed by Tatsumi, activity together that nan YouTube strategy is unfair. Neither cognize for judge whether trolls were responsible for each nan takedown notices they’re received, and that’s information of nan problem. “The thought that months of worries were caused by a azygous troll arsenic opposed to a ample untouchable institution is simply a difficult pill to swallow either way,” says Rimea. 

But they too state YouTube doesn’t fto smaller channels to business copyright strikes successful nan first place, arguing that it automatically and arbitrarily rejects nan ineligible notices that would fto them reinstate their videos. “YouTube decides whether personification loses his transmission based connected transmission size,” says Waikuteru. 

YouTube isn’t peculiarly consenting successful talking astir immoderate of this, though. 

While YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon did corroborate that “Tatsumi” made mendacious claims, nan institution wouldn’t explicate why nan institution moreover concisely accepted mendacious claims from a protonmail.com email reside arsenic legitimate, and galore times dodged questions astir whether Tatsumi made mendacious claims connected different creators’ videos, too.

YouTube wouldn’t moreover show maine whether Domtendo was still successful threat of mendacious copyright claims from this circumstantial individual, aliases relationship assurances that it would return immoderate caller action to forestall this benignant of behaviour successful nan future. 

Malon does state that YouTube has “dedicated teams moving to observe and forestall abuse,” however, and “work to guarantee that immoderate associated strikes are reversed” erstwhile bad actors make mendacious claims. 

As for nan troll, Tatsumi declined The Verge’s mobility and reply request. “Dear Sean, I americium an authorized supplier for Nintendo of America Inc,” they replied, staying successful characteristic to nan very end.