Bocacolle organizers apologize for excluding songs from rankings

The organizers of ‘The VOCALOID Collection 2026 Summer’ (Bocacolle) have issued an apology following a controversy regarding the exclusion of several musical works from the event’s rankings. The dispute arose after certain creators, including the Vocaloid producer Kanade, found their tracks removed from the ‘TOP 100’ rankings due to strict enforcement of intellectual property guidelines.

One specific case involved the song ‘Zeitgeist,’ which was disqualified because its music video featured a Nintendo 3DS as a ‘deliberate and primary production element’ rather than a background object. While the organizers clarified that this did not constitute a legal finding of copyright infringement, they determined the usage violated their internal application of submission rules.

In a statement released on August 24, the organizers admitted that while they had not changed the written terms, they had tightened the practical application of these rules due to the growing scale of the event. They apologized for the lack of prior notice regarding this stricter enforcement and for failing to communicate adequately with the affected creators. Dwango representative Shigeyuki Kurita also expressed regret on social media. While the organizers promised to develop clearer guidelines and allow revised submissions for future events, they did not offer remedies for the works excluded from the current rankings.