Garry Newman, creator of Garry's Mod, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice targeting unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content within the game. The sender's identity remains unclear, despite initial reports implicating Invisible Narratives, the studio behind the Skibidi Toilet film and TV franchises. A Discord profile associated with the Skibidi Toilet creator has since denied sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.

The DMCA Claim and its Irony

The DMCA notice alleges that no licensed Skibidi Toilet content exists for Garry's Mod, Steam, or Valve products. This is ironic, considering the Skibidi Toilet series itself originated using assets from Garry's Mod, ported over by Alexey Gerasimov's YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, using Valve's Source Filmmaker. This series unexpectedly became a viral Gen Alpha meme, leading to merchandise and planned film/TV adaptations by Invisible Narratives.

Invisible Narratives' notice claims copyright ownership of characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet. They cite DaFuq!?Boom! as the source of these characters.

Counterarguments and Responses

Newman shared the DMCA notice on the s&box Discord server, highlighting the absurdity of the situation. The notice's assertion of copyright over characters created using Garry's Mod assets is a key point of contention. While Garry's Mod itself uses assets from Valve's Half-Life 2 (with Valve's permission), the situation differs significantly. Valve, as the original copyright holder, has a stronger claim than Invisible Narratives, which leveraged assets originally created within Garry's Mod.

DaFuq!?Boom! subsequently denied involvement in the DMCA notice via the s&box Discord, expressing confusion and seeking contact with Newman. The notice itself lists Invisible Narratives, LLC as the copyright holder, claiming copyright on "Titan Cameraman and 3 Other Unpublished Works" (including Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet) in 2023.

Previous Copyright Disputes

This isn't DaFuq!?Boom!'s first copyright controversy. Last September, they issued multiple copyright strikes against GameToons, a similar YouTube channel, eventually reaching an undisclosed settlement.

The legitimacy of the DMCA notice to Garry's Mod remains uncertain, highlighting the complexities of copyright in the age of user-generated content and viral memes. The situation underscores the potential for unintended consequences when creators leverage existing assets and the subsequent challenges in establishing clear copyright ownership.