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Not even a series as surreal as Skibidi Toilet is above the realities of legal drama, it seems.

In case you aren't completely in the loop on all things Skibidi, there have not been new episodes of the web series released on YouTube in 9 months, as of time of writing. Three months ago, the name of the channel where Skibidi Toilet animator and creator Alexey Gerasimov posted new episodes of the show was changed from "DaFuq!?Boom!" to simply "skibidi," a change intended to "reflect the community and universe that's formed around it." Skibidi Toilet fans have been skeptical of the change on YouTube, taking the rebrand of the original channel as part of corporate machinations that have displaced creator Gerasimov from his work. 

But what corporate machinations are we talking about here? As reported by Law By Mike on YouTube, Gerasimov signed a copyright assignment contract with a company called Invisible Narratives, which gave the company "the main copyright and trademark rights" to Skibidi Toilet. Law By Mike also states that Invisible Narratives "reportedly got the exclusive rights to run the DaFuq!?Boom! channel, and a portion of the advertising revenue." So, essentially, it would appear that Invisible Narratives is behind the name change of the DaFuq!?Boom! channel. 

Okay, so where else is there trouble? Things get trickier because reportedly, in late 2024, a Dubai-based company called Next Level Apps filed a trademark application for the name "Skibidi Toilet," registered the URL "skibiditoilet.com," and released "knock-off Skibidi Toilet games" like "Skibidi Against the Alliance" and "Survive with Cameraman" onto app stores. According to Law By Mike, the trademark application filed by Next Level Apps is a "piece of paperwork that they could use to say Skibidi Toilet is theirs." Ruh-roh. 

And that's not all. Next Level co-founder Serhii Osadchyi reportedly posted a game idea on a Ukrainian forum in 2020 where "half-people, half-toilets" engage in a "fierce battle" with a race of "video surveillance cameras" who have been merged with humans. "Next Level's argument is, 'We didn't steal Skibidi Toilet, [DaFuq!?]Boom! and Invisible [Narratives] copied us,'" Law By Mike says. This led to Next Level submitting a DMCA takedown notice to the DaFuq!?Boom! YouTube channel for copyright infringement, requesting the removal of season 25 Skidibi Toilet videos. YouTube honored Next Level's request, and Skibidi Toilet season 25 was taken off the platform. 

After the removal of Skibidi Toilet season 25, Next Level posted their own Skibidi-related content on their own channel, to which Invisible Narratives filed their own DMCA notices against. Not surprisingly, Next Level filed "counter notices" against Invisible Narratives, escalating the situation further. That's when a federal judge in Northern California reviewed the notices and granted an emergency temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, stopping the conflict from going any further.

Initially, this seemed like a win for Invisible Narratives. But this feeling was short-lived, because Next Level "violated" the preliminary injunction, according to Law By Mike, when it took down episode 77 of Skibidi Toilet for 57 days "because of an old takedown request that Next Level never pulled back." Next Level was found in civil contempt by the court for this takedown, and was required to pay $160,000. 

So where has Skibidi Toilet creator Alexey Gerasimov been? Law By Mike notes that Gerasimov isn't the plaintiff on the federal lawsuit against Next Level Apps - Invisible Narratives is. To get the full picture on Gerasimov's involvement, we suggest you watch Law By Mike's 14-minute video on the situation. It's a doozy. 

It's not clear how the legal troubles affect Michael Bay's plans to adapt Skibidi Toilet for the big screen. 

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