Pokémon Company Strikes YouTuber's 7-Year-Old Video for Pokémon Mod in COD Zombies

In a recent development that has caught the attention of the gaming community, popular YouTuber NoahJ456 received a copyright strike from The Pokémon Company for a video created seven years ago in which Pokémon was modded into Call of Duty: Zombies. This strike comes amid what appears to be a crackdown by The Pokémon Company on modded content featuring their intellectual properties. Noah warned other creators to take down similar content to avoid potential strikes.

NoahJ456's video has been taken down, resulting in a "manual strike" against his channel, which has over five million subscribers. If he receives two more strikes, his YouTube channel could be deleted. The situation seems to have been aggravated after mods that introduce Pokémon into the game Palworld—widely known as 'Pokémon with guns'—drew attention, leading to Nintendo's legal action against several creators, including the take down of a Palworld video by YouTuber Toasted Shoes.

Additional insights into The Pokémon Company's policy towards fan-made content were shared by a former chief legal officer. He stated that the company typically doesn't immediately issue takedowns for fan projects unless they reach a certain threshold, such as receiving significant funding. The Pokémon Company has a history of taking down unauthorized uses of its properties, including fan-made games and modification tools, emphasizing its protective stance on copyright enforcement.

Content creators should be aware that using Pokémon intellectual property, such as characters or settings, in mods or videos without permission could lead to copyright strikes. The Pokémon Company is actively enforcing their copyrights and creators featuring modded Pokémon content are advised to remove said content to avoid legal trouble.

The Pokémon Company has been fiercely protective of its intellectual property, which includes a vast array of Pokémon games, TV shows, movies, and merchandise. Pokémon is a multimedia franchise that's one of the highest-grossing of all time. It began with the original Pokémon Red and Green video games for the Game Boy in 1996 and exploded into worldwide popularity with the Pokémon animated series. The franchise has since expanded far beyond its video game roots, featuring trading card games, movies, merchandise, and mobile games like Pokémon GO. Its intricate world and creatures have been trademarked extensively, which explains the company's vigilant stance on unauthorized usage in fan projects or other games.