cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/retrogaming/p/568201/we-ve-freed-cookie-s-bustle-from-copyright-hell-video-game-history-foundation
This is such a specific game that most people won’t know what the article is about, but here’s the TLDR:
There’s a 1999 Japanese game called Cookie’s Bustle that gathered a cult following in the last couple of years. It’s an incredibly bizarre point and click where you play as a teddy bear in some surreal world where a war is taking place.
What makes it really interesting is that someone (who claims to own the game) has been desperately trying to erase it from history. Any videos about the game, any let’s plays or gameplay videos, any screenshots, any fan art etc. have been getting rigorously copyright struck and removed from the internet. Nobody knows why.
The video game history foundation finally freed the game from copyright hell and blocked that guy from issuing any more copyright strikes. This is pretty cool for video game preservation and people interested in the game.
P.S. The article is absolutely worth a read as it goes in-depth into what it took to disprove the copyright troll’s claims and fight back against fake DMCA claims.
Classics of Game [YT] appears to be working through uploading clips from the game right now. Their channel format is absurd clips from obscure games. So it’s a perfect fit.
I’m not familiar with the channel enough to know if they have been previously hit with a take down. (And I didn’t read the article link) I’m guessing they were, based on the YouTube comments. Edit: I just noticed the “episode” numbers make it clear these are re-uploads.
The article references a clip from that channel that was uploaded in 2019 and taken down via a DMCA claim in 2022.
Cookie’s Bustle preservation is important work. Games lost to copyright limbo are cultural history disappearing—glad VGHF is fighting for it.
