Skibidi Toilet DMCAs Garry's Mod But Legitimacy Remains Unclear

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, as we'll explore below.

Skibidi Toilet's DMCA Notice Against Garry's Mod

On July 30th, a copyright claim, the source of which remains unclear, targeted "unauthorized Skibidi Toilet Garry's Mod games." The sender asserted that no licensed content exists connecting Skibidi Toilet to Steam, Valve, or Garry's Mod. Initial reports incorrectly attributed the notice to Invisible Narratives, the studio behind Skibidi Toilet's film and television adaptations. However, a Discord profile associated with the Skibidi Toilet creator has since denied sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.

For context, Garry's Mod, a mod for Valve's Half-Life 2, allows users to create custom games. Alexey Gerasimov's YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, uses Garry's Mod assets in Source Filmmaker (another Valve product) to create the wildly popular Skibidi Toilet series—a Gen Alpha meme phenomenon that has spawned merchandise and plans for a Michael Bay-produced film and TV series.

Challenges to Skibidi Toilet's DMCA Claim

Newman revealed the DMCA on the s&box Discord server, commenting on its absurdity. The notice from Invisible Narratives claims 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 origins within Garry's Mod itself.

While Garry's Mod utilizes assets from Half-Life 2, Valve has authorized its release as a standalone game. This gives Valve a stronger legal standing than Invisible Narratives regarding the use of their assets. The unauthorized use of Valve's assets by DaFuq!?Boom! would be a more significant copyright infringement.

Following Newman's public statement, DaFuq!?Boom! denied involvement in the DMCA on the s&box Discord, expressing confusion and seeking contact with Newman. The DMCA notice was sent by an unknown party "on behalf of copyright holder: Invisible Narratives, LLC," claiming copyright on the aforementioned characters, registered in 2023.

While DaFuq!?Boom!'s denial remains unverified, this isn't their first brush with copyright controversies.

Skibidi Toilet Copyright Strikes Other YouTubers

Last September, DaFuq!?Boom! issued copyright strikes against other YouTubers, including GameToons, resulting in a temporary dispute resolved through an undisclosed agreement.

The situation surrounding the DMCA against Garry's Mod remains unresolved, highlighting the complexities of copyright in the age of memes and user-generated content. The legitimacy of the claim and the identity of the sender remain open questions.