Garry's Mod creator, Garry Newman, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice concerning unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content within the Garry's Mod platform. The initial reports implicated Invisible Narratives, the studio behind the Skibidi Toilet film and TV franchises, but this has since been disputed. A Discord profile seemingly linked to the Skibidi Toilet creator denied sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.
The irony lies in the origins of Skibidi Toilet itself: its assets were initially sourced from Garry's Mod, a mod for Valve's Half-Life 2. Alexey Gerasimov's YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, utilizes Garry's Mod assets within Source Filmmaker to create the popular Skibidi Toilet series, which subsequently spawned merchandise and a planned film and TV adaptation.
The DMCA notice, allegedly from an unknown source acting on behalf of Invisible Narratives, claims copyright infringement over characters such as "Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet," registered in 2023. This is despite the fact that Garry's Mod, while utilizing assets from Half-Life 2, has Valve's approval as a standalone release. Valve, as the original copyright holder of Half-Life 2, arguably possesses a stronger claim against unauthorized use of its assets.
Newman publicly addressed the DMCA on the s&box Discord server, expressing disbelief at the situation. DaFuq!?Boom! subsequently denied involvement in the DMCA notice via the same Discord server, expressing confusion and seeking to contact Newman directly.
The situation highlights a complex copyright dispute, particularly given DaFuq!?Boom!'s previous history of issuing copyright strikes against other YouTubers, including GameToons, a situation eventually resolved through an undisclosed agreement. The legitimacy of the DMCA notice remains uncertain, adding another layer of complexity to this ongoing saga. The conflicting claims and the origins of the Skibidi Toilet content raise significant questions about the application of copyright law in the context of user-generated content and derivative works.
