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The creator of Source machinima Skibidi Toilet has distanced themselves from an apparent copyright notice sent to Garry's Mod creator Garry Newman on behalf of the web series.
Earlier this week, Newman took to the official S&Box Discord to reveal that he had received a DMCA notice alleging that "significant revenue" is being made from "unauthorized" Skibidi Toilet games.
Equipped with receipts, Newman shared an image of the takedown letter outlining that Skibidi Toilet, Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, and Titan TV Man are all registered copyrights. "You know what’s worse than the Nintendo DMCA?” Newman went on to say. “Skibidi Toilet guys sent a DMCA too. Serious. Can you believe the cheek?”
While Nintendo's complaint related to how its own IP was popping up in Garry's Mod - leading to the removal of 20 years of Nintendo-themed Garry's Mod content - Skibidi Toilet is a viral YouTube series using a mishmash of Half-Life assets anyone can access through Source and, well, Garry's Mod.
Now, Skibidi Toilet's Alexey 'DaFuq!? Boom!' Gerasimov—using a Discord account that's also used on his own server—has popped up to say that they did not strike Garry's Mod and is seeking a way to contact Newman to understand what else is written in the letter.
If not Gerasimov, then, then who? The dismissal comes after the internet was left to speculate about what's going on, and chatter is likely to continue until, well, everyone finds out. It isn't uncommon to see copyright strikes flung out over YouTube and beyond on 'someone's behalf' as a joke to raise a fuss, so plenty believe it's likely that.
Then there's the other time Skibidi Toilet recently made the headlines, which relates to a TV and film franchise being in the works with help from director Michael Bay and former Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman. The strike, as shared by Newman, was reportedly made on that company's behalf, with public records listing the company as the Copyright Claimant. It's possible that the strike was submitted by a third party using that name, but the ties to the potential film franchise appear pretty clear at this time.
As to what's actually happening beyond that shared publicly, we've reached out to Garry's Mod developer Facepunch for comment and will update this story if we hear back or if an update is posted.
