Garry Newman, the creator of Garry's Mod, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice concerning 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 notice alleges the absence of any licensed Skibidi Toilet content for Garry's Mod on Steam or Valve platforms. This is ironic, considering the Skibidi Toilet series itself originated using assets from Garry's Mod, ported by Alexey Gerasimov's YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, into Source Filmmaker. This series unexpectedly became a viral Gen Alpha meme, leading to merchandise and planned film/TV adaptations.

Garry Newman shared the DMCA notice on the s&box Discord server, highlighting the unexpected nature of the claim. Invisible Narratives' notice asserts copyright ownership over characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet. They cite DaFuq!?Boom! as the original source of these characters.

Counterarguments and Copyright Ownership

While Garry's Mod utilizes assets from Valve's Half-Life 2, Valve has authorized its release as a standalone game. This contrasts with the Skibidi Toilet situation, where the source material itself is derived from Garry's Mod assets. Valve, as the original copyright holder of Half-Life 2, arguably has a stronger claim against unauthorized use of its assets by DaFuq!?Boom! than Invisible Narratives does against Garry's Mod.

DaFuq!?Boom! subsequently denied involvement in the DMCA notice on the s&box Discord, expressing confusion and a desire to contact Garry Newman. The notice itself lists "Invisible Narratives, LLC" as the copyright holder, claiming copyright on the aforementioned characters 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 a settlement with undisclosed terms.

The legitimacy of the DMCA notice to Garry's Mod remains uncertain, highlighting the complexities of copyright in the context of user-generated content and viral internet memes. The situation underscores the ongoing debate surrounding intellectual property rights and the use of pre-existing assets in creative works.