Garry Newman, creator of the popular modding platform Garry's Mod, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice seemingly related to the Skibidi Toilet meme. The situation is rife with irony, given the meme's origins.
Skibidi Toilet's DMCA Notice Against Garry's Mod
On July 30th, Newman received a copyright claim, the source of which remains unclear, demanding the removal of unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content within Garry's Mod. The notice claimed a lack of licensing for any Skibidi Toilet-related content on Steam, Valve, or within Garry's Mod itself. While initially attributed to Invisible Narratives, the studio behind Skibidi Toilet's movie and TV projects, a Discord profile purportedly belonging to the Skibidi Toilet creator has since denied sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.
Garry's Mod, a mod for Valve's Half-Life 2, allows users to create custom game modes. The Skibidi Toilet YouTube series, created by Alexey Gerasimov (DaFuq!?Boom!), uses assets ported from Garry's Mod into Source Filmmaker. This series' immense popularity led to merchandise and planned film and TV adaptations by Invisible Narratives.
Challenges to the DMCA Claim
Newman revealed the DMCA on the s&box Discord server, expressing disbelief at the situation. Invisible Narratives' notice claimed copyright ownership over characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet, citing DaFuq!?Boom! as the original source. This is ironic, considering Skibidi Toilet's creation using Garry's Mod assets.
While Garry's Mod itself uses assets from Half-Life 2, Valve, the publisher, has authorized its release as a standalone title. Valve's position, as the original owner of Half-Life 2 assets, would likely supersede any claim by Invisible Narratives.
Following Newman's public statement, DaFuq!?Boom! denied involvement in the DMCA, expressing confusion and seeking contact with Newman. The notice was reportedly sent by an unknown party "on behalf of" Invisible Narratives, LLC, citing copyright registration in 2023 for "Titan Cameraman and 3 Other Unpublished Works."
The situation remains uncertain, but this isn't DaFuq!?Boom!'s first encounter with copyright disputes.
Previous Skibidi Toilet Copyright Strikes
Last September, DaFuq!?Boom! issued copyright strikes against other YouTubers, including GameToons, leading to a temporary dispute that was later resolved through an undisclosed agreement.
