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Super Mario: Nintendo hunts down fans who publish theories about the film

While the release of the animated film Super Mario has been postponed to the spring of 2023, rumors and rumors about it are multiplying on social networks. A detailed plot summary, yet based purely on theory, has been the subject of a removal request on Reddit for copyright infringement.

super mario movie spoilers
Credits: Nintendo

When it comes to copyright, Nintendo is intractable. The manufacturer of the Nintendo Switch and the Switch OLED does not laugh with intellectual property. We remember, for example, the filing of 4000 complaints against a YouTube channel which used to broadcast music from several BigN games, or even the removal of this Pokémon FPS made by a fan.

Obviously, Nintendo doesn’t really like us having fun theorizing about these upcoming games/movies. As you may know, the Super Mario animated film was supposed to be released in theaters before the end of 2022, but finally we will have to wait until spring 2023 to discover the adventures of the mustachioed plumber on the big screen.

In the meantime, rumors surrounding the film’s plot are spreading at breakneck speed on the web. A Reddit user also had the idea of ​​regroup all these theories to make a detailed summary of the story potential of the film. In this thread called “[Spoilers] Potential plot of the Mario movie”, this user therefore created from scratch the summary of the story of the film, thanks to the comments of some people who attended test screenings or fans of the license. Of course, he specifies that none of the information is official and that these are mere theories.

super mario movie spoilers
Credits: Nintendo

Read also: Zelda Breath of The Wild 2 – the latest images revive rumors around the Switch Pro

Reddit removes Super Mario theories for copyright infringement

In other words, this is an average publication from a simple fan who is just trying to theorize about the animated film. A type of content that is often found on many products/games/movies and series. But against all odds, the thread in question has been deleted by Reddit’s legal operations team following a “claim of copyright by a third party”.

The important thing here is therefore to know who is at the origin of this request. Our colleagues from the Torrent Freak site tried to get explanations from Reddit, without success. In fact, and if we dare to make a few guesses, the most logical complainants could be Nintendo, Illumination (the studio in charge of the film) or Universal Pictures (the publisher). Another question remains unanswered, Why was this request made? Since this thread didn’t contain any stolen images or video from the movie, logic would dictate that the problem lies with the text of the message. In other words, we can assume that the summary contained exact plot spoilerseven though it is based on mere speculation.

super mario movie spoilers
Credits: Reddit

Can speculation represent copyright infringement?

Is this request justified then in the eyes of American copyright law? The question arises, especially since in this specific case, the user has not shared any third-party copyrighted material. Nevertheless, and in the past, we have already seen law firms step up to the plate for the dissemination of spoilers, which they consider to be a violation of copyright. This was the case for “The Spoiling Dead”, an online community that used to share precise information about the plot of episodes of The Walking Dead series.

The group had notably promised to reveal who the identity of the killer of Negan, an announcement that prompted broadcaster AMC to go on the offensive. In a 2016 termination notice, the directors of “The Spoiling Dead” were accused of receiving “copyrighted trade secret information on the most critical plot details” of the series with the aim of “distribute this highly confidential information”, knowing that this would harm AMC. Here is what AMC’s legal team said at the time of this case: “Broadcasting plot summaries, and in particular the crucial plot elements that you have stated you intend to broadcast, has been considered copyright infringement”.

Source : Torrent Freak

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