Garry Newman, the creator of the popular game modding tool Garry's Mod, recently received a DMCA takedown notice related to Skibidi Toilet content. The situation is shrouded in confusion, as the source and legitimacy of the notice are currently unclear.
The initial reports suggested Invisible Narratives, the studio behind the Skibidi Toilet film and TV projects, was responsible. However, this has been disputed. A Discord profile believed to belong to the Skibidi Toilet creator denies sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.
The irony lies in the origins of Skibidi Toilet itself. The popular YouTube series, created by Alexey Gerasimov (DaFuq!?Boom!), utilizes assets from Garry's Mod, a game built upon Valve's Half-Life 2 assets. While Garry's Mod itself is a licensed product, the DMCA notice claims copyright infringement on characters like "Titan Cameraman," "Titan Speakerman," "Titan TV Man," and "Skibidi Toilet," which Invisible Narratives registered in 2023. The notice points to DaFuq!?Boom! as the source of these characters.
Newman publicly shared the notice on the s&box Discord server, expressing disbelief. Invisible Narratives' assertion of copyright ownership over these characters, created using assets from Garry's Mod, is particularly ironic. The legal standing is complex, given Valve's authorization of Garry's Mod and their ownership of the original Half-Life 2 assets. Valve's position would likely be stronger than Invisible Narratives' in any dispute regarding asset usage.
Following the public revelation, DaFuq!?Boom! also took to Discord to deny involvement in sending the DMCA notice, adding to the mystery. The notice itself is reportedly from an unknown source "on behalf of copyright holder: Invisible Narratives, LLC."
This isn't the first time DaFuq!?Boom! has faced copyright scrutiny. Last September, they issued multiple copyright strikes against GameToons, another YouTube channel creating similar content, before eventually reaching an undisclosed agreement.
The situation highlights the complexities of copyright in the age of user-generated content and the potential for confusion and unintended consequences when dealing with derivative works and meme culture. The true origin and validity of the DMCA notice remain uncertain, pending further investigation.
