Skibidi Toilet DMCAs Garry's Mod But Legitimacy Remains Unclear

Garry Newman, the creator of Garry's Mod, recently received a DMCA takedown notice seemingly related to the popular Skibidi Toilet meme. The situation is shrouded in confusion, raising questions about the legitimacy of the claim and highlighting a curious irony.

A DMCA Takedown Notice Targeting Garry's Mod

On July 30th, an unknown party filed a copyright claim against Garry Newman, demanding the removal of unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content from Garry's Mod. The sender asserted a lack of any official Skibidi Toilet licensing for Steam, Valve, or Garry's Mod content.

Initial reports incorrectly attributed the notice to Invisible Narratives, the studio behind Skibidi Toilet's film and TV adaptations. However, Alexey Gerasimov, the creator of the DaFuq!?Boom! YouTube channel—the source of the Skibidi Toilet meme—has since publicly denied sending the DMCA. This denial was first reported by Dexerto.

The Background: From Garry's Mod to Global Meme

Garry's Mod, a mod for Valve's Half-Life 2, empowers players to build and share custom games. Gerasimov utilizes Garry's Mod assets within Valve's Source Filmmaker to create the popular Skibidi Toilet YouTube series, which has catapulted the meme into widespread Gen Alpha popularity, spawning merchandise and planned film/TV projects by Invisible Narratives (Michael Bay and Adam Goodman's studio).

Challenges to the DMCA Claim

Newman first revealed the DMCA on the s&box Discord server, expressing disbelief at the claim. The notice from Invisible Narratives asserted copyright ownership over characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet. They cited DaFuq!?Boom! as the origin of these characters.

The irony is striking: Skibidi Toilet itself originated from Garry's Mod assets. While Garry's Mod uses Half-Life 2 assets, Valve, the owner of those assets, has authorized the game's release. Therefore, Valve, not Invisible Narratives, would possess a stronger legal claim regarding the unauthorized use of their assets by DaFuq!?Boom!.

Denial from DaFuq!?Boom!

Following Newman's public statement, Gerasimov denied involvement in the DMCA on the s&box Discord, expressing confusion and a desire to contact Newman. The notice itself listed Invisible Narratives, LLC as the copyright holder, claiming copyright protection on the mentioned characters, registered in 2023 under "Titan Cameraman and 3 Other Unpublished Works."

While Gerasimov's denial remains unverified, it's not his first brush with copyright disputes.

Previous Copyright Disputes Involving DaFuq!?Boom!

Last September, DaFuq!?Boom! issued copyright strikes against other YouTubers, including GameToons, leading to a tense situation that was eventually resolved through an undisclosed agreement.

The current situation involving Garry's Mod and the Skibidi Toilet DMCA remains unresolved and highlights the complexities of copyright in the age of internet memes and user-generated content.