After Taking On Pirates And Leakers, Nintendo’s Next Target Is A Popular Pokemon YouTuber
Popular Pokemon YouTuber Elious, creator of the “PokéNational Geographic” channel, faces channel deletion after receiving numerous copyright strikes from Nintendo of America. The channel, which launched in 2023 and accumulated over 100,000 subscribers, is known for its nature documentary-style animated shorts depicting Pokemon species in realistic habitats—a concept inspired by David Attenborough-style narration.
Nintendo issued four separate copyright notices targeting 20 videos on the channel, invoking YouTube’s three-strike policy. As of April 26th, Elious had seven days before his channel was permanently deleted. The company alleged that the videos inappropriately use “content used in Pokémon video games including audiovisual works, characters, and imagery.” However, Elious disputed this, claiming that the only directly sourced content from Pokemon games consisted of “tiny sprite roars,” with the rest being custom-created animations.
The action exemplifies Nintendo’s well-documented aggressive approach to intellectual property protection. The company has a history of targeting piracy, leakers, and fan projects utilizing its franchises, demonstrating an unwillingness to tolerate uses of its intellectual properties even when creators argue their work constitutes transformative fan art. The removal of Elious’s channel represents another casualty in the ongoing tension between fan creativity and corporate IP enforcement.