In what you may charitably name an audacious authorized transfer, Garry Newman—he of Garry’s Mod fame—says he is been served with a DMCA over none apart from Skibidi Bathroom, the intensely baffling Era Alpha meme consisting of a Half-Life 2 character’s head beatboxing in a bathroom. It was initially made in Garry’s Mod and can be in talks to change into a Michael Bay film. That is the world we stay in and we’re simply going to have to just accept that, you and me.
Newman revealed the DMCA request in a publish on the S&field Discord channel, posting a screenshot by which somebody claiming to behave on behalf of the Michael Bay-run movie studio Invisible Narratives (the one connected to the Skibidi Bathroom cinematic universe) accuses Garry’s Mod of misusing copyrighted Skibidi Bathroom characters like “Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman, Titan TV man, and Skibidi Bathroom.” Driving the purpose house, the request says that “There may be completely no licensed Steam, Valve, Garry’s Mod content material associated to Skibidi Bathroom.”
And what have you learnt? Search for Titan Cameraman on the US Copyright Workplace web site, and it has been claimed by Invisible Narratives.
“Are you able to imagine the cheek?” wrote Newman on Discord. He is received a degree: Skibidi Bathroom itself owes a complete bunch to Garry’s Mod. It makes use of the identical Half-Life 2 belongings that individuals have been mucking round with in GMod for years, and creator Alexey “Dafuqboom” Gerasimov credit the GMod machinima scene as an enormous inspiration.
In truth, Gerasimov himself popped up on the S&field Discord to attempt to get in contact with Newman. “I did NOT strike Garry’s Mod and I am attempting to grasp what else is written within the letter!”
Which definitely makes the entire thing look like a little bit of a thriller. It might be, in fact, that the upcoming Skibidi Bathroom film—and the rights Gerasimov handed over to Bay and co to make it—have set attorneys aflutter, and GMod has been caught up in that. Or maybe the entire thing is an elaborate prank.
I’ve reached out to Newman to ask about his supposed response to the DMCA, and I am going to replace this piece if I hear again. However for now, solely Skibidi time will inform.