Garry’s Mod has found itself entangled in a legal dispute involving the popular YouTube series, Skibidi Toilet. The game’s creator, Garry Newman, recently revealed that the Skibidi Toilet series had issued a DMCA takedown notice against his game.
The news got the gaming community talking. But Palworld‘s community manager captured the collective sentiment perfectly with a witty tweet. The whole thing is very ironic, since Skibidi Toilet itself heavily borrows assets from Valve’s Half-Life 2, the very game that Garry’s Mod is built upon.
Palworld’s Community Manager Has Not Hesitated to Comment on The Garry’s Mod Debacle
It began when Newman shared on the S&Box Discord server that he had received a DMCA notice from the Skibidi Toilet team. The notice claimed that unauthorized Skibidi Toilet content in Garry’s Mod was generating revenue, which prompted the takedown request.
“Dear Garry, Gabe and Valve,
— Bucky | Palworld 🔜 Gamescom (@Bucky_cm) July 30, 2024
We are big YouTube agents and very serious businessmen. We know Hollywood people.
Please remove npc_gman, npc_male07 and prop_toilet from your 2004&2006 games because we own this now. Please find attached pictures of YouTube views as evidence” https://t.co/4PpaxWsK0n
Interestingly, the letter was attributed to Invisible Narratives, a film and TV production studio partnered with Michael Bay, which recently announced a Skibidi Toilet movie.
But the situation took a confusing twist when a Discord account named DaFuq!?Boom claiming to be Skibidi Toilet‘s creator, Alexey Gerasimov denied issuing the notice. On Discord, the account stated:
I did NOT strike Garry’s Mod and I’m trying to understand what else is written in the letter!
Palworld‘s community manager, Bucky has also chimed in with a satirical tweet directed at Garry, Gabe, and Valve. The tweet humorously mocked the DMCA notice, suggesting that big YouTube agents and Hollywood connections were involved.
the skibidi toilet creator messaged garry pic.twitter.com/JCU6BuZyjj
— ً (@tylerduran21) July 30, 2024
Newman later confirmed that he and Gerasimov had resolved the issue. Gerasimov reiterated that he had no intention of causing harm to Garry’s Mod, acknowledging the game’s significant role in the creation of Skibidi Toilet.
This Isn’t The First Rodeo for Garry’s Mod
This incident isn’t the first time Garry’s Mod has faced DMCA issues. Earlier this year, the game was hit by takedown notices from Nintendo. Palworld has also seen a lot of controversies and Bucky has been more than vocal about it before.
The Skibidi Toilet notice has felt particularly ironic given the shared heritage of both creations in the modding community. Skibidi Toilet owes much of its success to the assets and creative freedoms provided by Garry’s Mod.
Garry Newman later confirmed that the issue had been resolved amicably. In an email to IGN, he stated that he had been in touch with Gerasimov, and the confusion was cleared up.
This situation also is a reminder of the potential for miscommunication in the digital age. The incident also sparked discussions about the use of copyrighted assets in fan creations. Garry’s Mod and Skibidi Toilet both rely heavily on assets from the Half-Life series.
What do you think this implies about the ownership and boundaries of creative freedom?
