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 notice, from an as-yet-unidentified source, claimed a lack of licensing for any Skibidi Toilet-related material within Garry's Mod, Steam, or Valve properties.

Initial reports wrongly implicated Invisible Narratives, the studio behind Skibidi Toilet's film and television adaptations. However, Alexey Gerasimov, the creator of the DaFuq!?Boom! YouTube channel (responsible for the original Skibidi Toilet assets), denied sending the notice via the s&box Discord server.

The irony is palpable: Skibidi Toilet itself originated from assets within Garry's Mod. While Garry's Mod utilizes assets from Valve's Half-Life 2 (with Valve's permission and subsequent publication as a standalone title), the DMCA notice from an unknown source, allegedly on behalf of Invisible Narratives, LLC, asserts copyright ownership of characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet, registered in 2023. This raises questions about the legitimacy of the claim, given the source material's origins.

Newman's public disclosure of the DMCA on the s&box Discord server sparked speculation and concern. Gerasimov's subsequent denial of involvement further complicates the situation. The notice's assertion that DaFuq!?Boom! is the source of the copyrighted characters adds another layer of complexity.

While Valve, as the owner of Half-Life 2's assets, holds a stronger legal position regarding unauthorized use, the situation highlights the complexities of copyright in the context of user-generated content and the evolution of online memes.

This isn't DaFuq!?Boom!'s first brush with copyright disputes. Last September, Gerasimov issued copyright strikes against GameToons, another YouTube channel creating similar content. While the issue was eventually resolved, it underscores the ongoing challenges surrounding copyright enforcement in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. The current situation remains unresolved, pending further clarification on the DMCA notice's origin and validity.