Lego Zelda All But Confirmed After Copyright Strikes

Nothing confirms the existence of something like the copyright holder doing everything it can to hide it. So it is that Lego is issuing takedown notices on YouTube videos with the temerity to repeat the leak of a forthcoming Zelda-based The Great Deku Tree set

As spotted by Nintendo Life, YouTube channel Nintendo Prime received a copyright takedown notice from Lego themselves, after they repeated a rumor of a Zelda-themed set featuring the Great Deku Tree in a video on their channel.

Hey @ZeldaUniverse and anyone else who covered the The Great Deku Tree lego set – take down your videos ASAP. LEGO ain't messing around, even though we aren't the sources. Also: By doing this, they just CONFIRMED IT'S REAL. So there you have it. pic.twitter.com/kBa6dAGpko

— Nintendo Prime (@NintyPrime) February 18, 2023

Which, as Nintendo Prime very sensibly concludes, is about all the evidence you need to know it’s for real. If they aren’t showing images that belong to Lego, then Lego isn’t having its copyright violated!

It’s about time the set appeared. Lego has been not making a Zelda set for many years, despite fans’ best efforts, which—given the popularity of Lego Mario—makes close to no sense. Then earlier this month, a private consumer survey appeared to suggest such a thing was finally forthcoming. The leak included news on possible new sets for Lord of the Rings, Gotham City, Sleeping Beauty, and indeed Princess Zelda’s favorite plant.

It’s rumored to be a 1,920 piece set, with the option to build the tree with either green or pink leaves, depending on whether you want it to match Ocarina of Time or Breath of the Wild. Which sounds lovely! You’d imagine Lego would be delighted everyone’s so excited about it.

But rather than accept vast amounts of pre-announcement hype and excitement, the Danish giant is apparently instead throwing around copyright strikes—an action that can potentially cause serious harm to YouTube channels that were so venomously being enthusiastic about Lego products.

We’ve reached out to Lego to ask what their motivations are in taking actions like this, and will report back should they let us know.