Skibidi Toilet's DMCA Drama: Legitimacy in Question

The creator of Garry's Mod, 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 projects, as the source. However, this has since been disputed by a Discord profile seemingly belonging to the Skibidi Toilet creator, who denies sending the notice, as reported by Dexerto.

This situation presents a significant irony. The Skibidi Toilet series itself originated from assets within Garry's Mod, a game that allows user-created content. The DMCA notice claims copyright infringement over characters like "Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet," attributing their creation to the YouTube channel DaFuq!?Boom!, which uses Garry's Mod assets in its Source Filmmaker animations. Invisible Narratives asserts these characters are registered copyrights.

The legitimacy of the DMCA remains unclear. While Garry's Mod utilizes assets from Valve's Half-Life 2 (with Valve's permission), the claim's origin is questionable, especially considering the Skibidi Toilet series' origins within Garry's Mod itself. Valve, as the owner of Half-Life 2 assets, would arguably have a stronger claim against unauthorized use than Invisible Narratives.

Adding to the confusion, DaFuq!?Boom! publicly denied involvement in the DMCA notice via the s&box Discord server, expressing a desire to resolve the misunderstanding. The notice itself was reportedly issued "on behalf of copyright holder: Invisible Narratives, LLC," citing copyright registration in 2023 for the aforementioned characters.

This incident is not an isolated case for DaFuq!?Boom!. Last September, they issued copyright strikes against fellow YouTuber GameToons, leading to a tense standoff before an eventual agreement was reached. The ongoing situation highlights the complexities of copyright claims in the context of user-generated content and the potential for disputes when derivative works achieve unexpected popularity. The true source of the DMCA and the ultimate resolution remain to be seen.