Hi everyone, quick update from the team. We've been listening to and reviewing all the feedback we've received on the new Terms of Use, and we've agreed on a list of goals for revising them. We're now working with our legal counsel on how best to do that. We'll update you as soon…
For archival purposes, a mirror of the open letter follows.
October 5, 2026
To: support@speedrun.com
To the staff of speedrun.com,
This email comes from the community leaders of Wii Series Speedrunning. We handle a series of 12 “Wii”-branded games including ones like Wii Sports and Wii Play, and we’ve been using your website for over a decade. So we remember what you said in 2021, when you reversed the first removal of Creative Commons licensing from our run data. You said you “strongly believe in SR.C as an open platform for use by communities”, and that you “see it as [your] job to keep this information available online forever”. After nearly 200 comments on your terms of use update, it’s evident the broader speedrunning community overwhelmingly disagrees with your new definition of “available”. We are no different.
The prominent explanation you provide is that the world has changed. People are scared about how generative Al services have reshaped the online world, and speedrunners are at the forefront of that apprehension. So naturally, that’s where you’ve steered the conversation. Sadly, you say, Creative Commons was a dream of a different time, one where Al bots weren’t harvesting all our data. But what exactly were we supposed to do about that before? You’re a couple years late. We’re all dealing with the growing compromise of our personal information, including things frankly far more pressing than how fast we completed a round of 9-hole golf. Even beyond that, as people have begun to vocalize in your comments, Al companies don’t care about licensing policies, and in fact often intentionally ignore them. One user even likened your copyright to “a cardboard sign saying ‘bots go away’”. Upon a closer read of your post, other lines start to jump out more, such as “putting leaderboards on another site or scraping them now needs our okay first”. Hey, wait a minute. Putting leaderboards on another site? What does that have to do with any of this?
This is the elephant in the room, and there’s no more time to talk around it. You have competition. Particularly, the continued development of therun.gg has changed speedrunning, and you’re well aware of the recent beta launch of their own leaderboard system. Over the past two weeks, we’ve been working behind the scenes with therun developer Joey to test his leaderboard maintenance features with our games. The games we oversee are unique in nature from most traditional speedrun category schemes, and have unique needs. Joey has gathered more feedback on those needs in a matter of days than speedrun.com has in years. And it’s not just us – the writing’s been on the wall for a while. With features like real-time LiveSplit integration and race interfaces, therun is building a dream for speedrunners. We know this is what you’re talking about in your safeguards against “substantially similar” websites to your own. What you’re offering instead are vague allusions to “new services”. No information has been provided about what you might bring to the table, besides that it’s planned for “coming years”. It is hard for us not to see this as a platitude rather than a proficient attempt to catch up with the modern era of speedrunning. To suppress modern speedrunning services in spite of that is something we cannot stand behind.
Beyond the existence of any competitor, the most important piece of criticism is the disservice to every individual user of your website. All of us are capable of evaluating the landscape of the modern internet. In our corner of it, the absolute freedom of information between every user and community has been foundational for as long as speedrunning has existed. Of course we know we individually own our runs – that is not adequate. We do not feel any differently about this in 2026 than we did in 2021, or in 2013 when the site was founded.
We, the organizers and moderators of Wii Series, believe strongly in the future of speedrunning, with new events on the horizon and the upcoming release of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. If your terms of use stay the same, it is our express opinion that this future is incompatible with speedrun.com.
Sincerely,
Kataryn (cyndifusic), and:
– The Wii Series Speedrunning Admin Team: cyndifusic, SMMidi, Plyd, dragonz, and CringeDaisy;
– The Wii Series Speedrunning Event Organizers: SMMidi, Dqwavious, Plyd, MineXeniM, and cyndifusic;
– The Wii Series Speedrunning Leaderboard Moderators:
Romhacks Were Never Submitted to the Site But Were Imported from RHDN’s 2024 Dump
For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube or Twitter.
Banned Without Warning
The Discord ban came without warning or notification and was not discovered until July 6, 2025.
Subsequently, the following message was sent to Romhack.ing (RHDI) staff via the RHDI website.
May 29, 2026
Last year, I randomly discovered I got banned from the RHDI Discord without warning or explanation.
As a result, I regretfully submit a request to take down my hacks hosted on the site.
Thank you for your kind attention in this matter.
Takedown Request Rejected
RHDI staff promptly replied:
May 30, 2026
Thank you for your message. After seeing your takedown request, we categorically reject it on the grounds of it being in response to a ban.
On that note, we checked our records, and we can confirm that you were in fact banned. It was due to a violation of the following rule:
No advertising or referrals unless it’s approved by staff.
I will admit, a ban (without warning) is rather heavy handed for this. But if you would like to appeal and agree to follow the server rules, we can lift the ban.
Alternative Just as Tyrannical
One of our Hacking Legends, solidification, had this to say when notified of the news (quoted with permission):
Imao you don’t own your own hacks
But good to know that something that was literally spun up in response to t[yr]annical nonsense from RHDN in its ownership and potential loss is, uh, tyrannical
The hacks and translations, now believed to be illegally hosted on RHDI, can be seen here.
These hacks and translations were never submitted to RHDI by yours truly.
Instead, they were imported from RHDN’s data dump from August 2024, as we previously reported here.
So, what do you think? What’s worse, the silent ban or the refusal to honor a hack author’s takedown request? Would you want to submit your work to RHDI?
As noted by RPGFan.com in a social media post here:
Falcom has taken down the fan-run ‘Falcom Music Channel’ (a YouTube page they’d even link to themselves!).
Despite once lax rules for use, Josep (who ran the page) would also try crediting individual composers who are otherwise more simply credited as ‘Falcom Sound Team JDK’.
Image credit: RPGFan.com
Says the channel owner on social media:
I don't really know what to say, and honestly, I'm not even sure how to process this. I never made a single cent from this channel; it was always driven purely by passion.
All I can say is thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who ever listened.
Falcom's music policy assumes the use of legitimately obtained music. If that channel was uploading tracks extracted from the game, especially Kyoto Xanadu music before the official OST was released, it's understandable why Falcom would view that as particularly serious.
It is noted that Falcom does not even appear to have an official music channel on YouTube. Instead, there is only an auto topic of auto-imported tracks here.
Ironically, Falcom has long had what it hails as a world-first declaration of free music. The following is an English machine translation of their policy in Japanese here:
What is Falcom’s Music Free Declaration?
This is a declaration made with the aim of allowing you to freely use all of Nihon Falcom Corporation’s (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) musical works.
For over 40 years, our company has produced and sold a vast amount of game music, gaining support from many users across generations due to the diversity of our sound and the high quality of our productions. We have released over 5,000 songs, and that number continues to grow.
With the desire to share these songs with even more people than before, beyond just game music fans, we are launching the “Falcom Music Free Declaration,” a world-first initiative.
You can use music in situations like these.
I want to play Falcom music at a piano recital.
I want to play in a band’s live performance.
I want to use it as background music for my wedding.
I want to use it in a play for the school festival.
I want to use it as background music for a radio program.
I want to use it as a song for a TV commercial.
I want to use it as background music for events and presentations .
On social media as noted above, and on YouTube, there is speculation that the channel was taken down specifically because the Kyoto Xanadu OST was ripped and uploaded before the OST release:
Other coverage on YouTube:
Rumors regarding a replacement channel to be started by another fan:
Speaking exclusively with FFV Central, JRPG streamer and Falcom content creator NeoKakarot offers the following insight:
Falcom could have very easily communicated with Josep telling him that BGM rips before the official OST is a no no now.
I think they used the Kyoto Xanadu uploads as an excuse to just be rid of the channel.
Falcom with their expanded western reach realized they were missing out on ad revenue of all these westerners not listening to their official YT channel or spotify.
So, what do you think? Is Falcom finally backpedaling from their policy? Comment below, or come check us out on Discord.
