A few days ago, a frankly bizarre internet mystery took root: Garry’s Mod creator Garry Newman revealed that the “Skibidi Toilet guys” had hit him with a DMCA in a wild bit of litigious irony. But since then, an account purporting to be Skibidi Toilet creator Alexey Gerasimov (DaFuq!?Boom) has said he wasn’t behind the claim, and Newman has told IGN that the manner has been “resolved,” so… all’s well that ends well?
It all began on Sunday, when Newman posted in the S&Box Discord server, “you know what's worse than the nintendo dmca?” He then shared the news about the Skibidi Toilet DMCA, including pasting a screenshot of the letter that he was sent. Interestingly, the copyright holder that the letter is attributed to is Invisible Narratives, the film and TV production studio that’s partnering with Michael Bay on a Skibidi Toilet film.
The letter that Newman posted specifically cites Skibidi Toilet characters like Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, and Titan TV Man, saying they are "all registered copyrights that are unique and representative of our brand." Sure enough, a public catalog search reveals that Invisible Narratives has indeed claimed a copyright for Titan Cameraman and three other unpublished works.
The letter adds that “significant revenue is being generated by unauthorized Skibidi Toilet Garry's Mod games that are being advertised everywhere." The irony was not lost on Newman, who declared in Discord, “can you believe the cheek?” Skidibi Toilet, of course, is largely made with assets from Half-Life 2, and was originally created in – you guessed it – Garry’s Mod.
Gerasimov, however, was quick to attempt to set the record straight. An account claiming to be the YouTube creator wrote in the S&Box Discord, “Is there a way to contact Garry? I did NOT strike Garry's Mod and I'm trying to understand what else is written in the letter!”
Luckily, according to Newman, Gerasimov did indeed find a way to contact him. When reached by IGN via email, Newman confirmed that they were sent the DMCA late last year. “DaFuq has been in touch, all resolved,” he added.
So, what did happen here? Was it simply a misguided DMCA sent from an overzealous Hollywood production company? It’s unclear as of now, but DMCA claims sent in error certainly aren’t uncommon.
IGN has reached out to Gerasimov, Valve (which publishes Garry’s Mod), and Invisible Narratives for more clarification. But for now, it looks like this week’s weirdest internet mystery has been resolved.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
