The creator of Garry's Mod, Garry Newman, reportedly received a DMCA takedown notice from an individual initially believed to represent a company claiming copyright ownership of Skibidi Toilet. Continue reading for details about this peculiar copyright dispute.
Skibidi Toilet Files DMCA Against Garry's Mod
Skibidi Toilet's Takedown Notice
On July 30, Garry Newman allegedly received a copyright infringement notice from an unidentified source demanding removal of "unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content" from Garry's Mod. The notice asserted that "no licensed Steam, Valve, or Garry's Mod content related to Skibidi Toilet exists."
Initial reports suggested Invisible Narratives - the studio developing Skibidi Toilet's media adaptations - issued the notice. However, this claim was later disputed when a Discord account allegedly belonging to Skibidi Toilet's creator denied sending the DMCA, as first reported by Dexerto.
Garry's Mod is a popular sandbox game developed by Newman using assets from Valve's Half-Life 2. Interestingly, Skibidi Toilet creator Alexey Gerasimov ("DaFuq!?Boom!") originally produced his viral YouTube series using Valve's Source Filmmaker tools with Garry's Mod assets. The meme series gained massive popularity among Generation Z, spawning merchandise deals and planned adaptations by Michael Bay's Invisible Narratives.
Counters to Skibidi Toilet's DMCA Claim
Newman first disclosed the DMCA claim on the s&box Discord server, posting: "You know what's worse than Nintendo's DMCAs? Skibidi Toilet just sent one too... Can you believe the nerve?" He shared a screenshot of the notice in the chat.
The notice claims characters including "Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV Man, and Skibidi Toilet" as registered copyrights belonging to Invisible Narratives, citing DaFuqBoom's YouTube channel as the original content source.
This development carries significant irony since Skibidi Toilet itself originated from Garry's Mod assets. While Garry's Mod also used Valve's Half-Life 2 assets, Valve officially sanctioned Newman's project by publishing it as a standalone game in 2006. Legally, Valve would theoretically hold stronger claim over asset usage than Invisible Narratives.
Following Newman's Discord post, DaFuq!?Boom! joined the s&box server to deny responsibility: "Is there a way to contact Garry? I did NOT file this DMCA and want to understand what the notice says!"
Current information indicates the notice came from an anonymous party "representing copyright holder: Invisible Narratives, LLC." The claimed assets were reportedly copyrighted in 2023 under "Titan Cameraman and 3 Other Unpublished Works."
While DaFuq!?Boom!'s statement remains unverified, this isn't the first controversy surrounding the creator's copyright enforcement.
Skibidi Toilet Copyright Strikes Other YouTubers
In September 2023, DaFuq!?Boom! escalated copyright claims against channels like GameToons, which creates similar content. After failed negotiations, two additional strikes threatened GameToons' channel existence before a confidential resolution was reached a week later.
The previous incidents and current DMCA situation highlight ongoing complexities around derivative content ownership in digital spaces.
