Skibidi Toilet DMCAs Garry's Mod But Legitimacy Remains Unclear

Garry Newman, the creator of Garry's Mod, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice concerning unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content within the Garry's Mod platform. The sender's identity remains shrouded in mystery, despite initial reports implicating Invisible Narratives, the studio behind Skibidi Toilet's film and TV adaptations. A Discord profile seemingly belonging to the Skibidi Toilet creator has since denied sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.

The DMCA Notice and its Irony

The notice alleges the absence of any licensed Skibidi Toilet content on Steam, Valve, or within Garry's Mod itself, demanding the removal of user-created Skibidi Toilet games. This claim is particularly ironic, given the Skibidi Toilet series' origins. Alexey Gerasimov, the creator of the popular YouTube channel DaFuq!?Boom!, utilizes Garry's Mod assets and Valve's Source Filmmaker to produce the Skibidi Toilet videos that launched the meme's viral success.

Counterarguments and the Question of Ownership

Newman publicly shared the DMCA notice on the s&box Discord server, highlighting the absurdity of the situation. Invisible Narratives' notice asserts copyright ownership over characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet, citing DaFuq!?Boom! as the original source. However, this assertion ignores the fact that DaFuq!?Boom! used assets from Garry's Mod, itself built upon Valve's Half-Life 2. Valve, having authorized Garry's Mod's release, arguably holds a stronger claim to the assets in question than Invisible Narratives.

Following Newman's public disclosure, DaFuq!?Boom! denied involvement in the DMCA notice on the s&box Discord, expressing confusion and a desire to contact Newman directly. The notice itself cites Invisible Narratives, LLC as the copyright holder, referencing copyrights registered in 2023 for "Titan Cameraman and 3 Other Unpublished Works."

A Pattern of Copyright Disputes

The situation remains unresolved, with the DMCA's origin unconfirmed. This isn't DaFuq!?Boom!'s first encounter with copyright disputes. Last September, they issued multiple copyright strikes against GameToons, another YouTuber creating similar content, eventually reaching a settlement under undisclosed terms.

The entire situation underscores the complexities of copyright in the age of user-generated content and viral memes, raising questions about the legitimacy of the DMCA notice and the potential for abuse of copyright claims.