Modding is an art that has gained popularity over the years. However, some developers and publishers see it as an infringement on their intellectual property. That is the case of ToastedShoes, a popular YouTube channel dedicated to playing modded games.
Australian YouTuber Joe, popularly known as ToastedShoes took to X last week to allege that Warner Bros. was “threatening to destroy” his YouTube channel because of his Mortal Kombat 1 mods. The YouTuber claimed that he had to private many of his videos after the cease-and-desist order.
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“This morning I received an IP Infringement Notification directly from Warner Brothers stating that the Mortal Kombat mods in my content ‘infringe’ on their intellectual property rights,” wrote Toasted on X. “I’ve been requested to delete all Mortal Kombat 1 videos from my channel or else they will issue copyright strikes and essentially delete my channel in its entirety”
“For over 6 months Warner Brothers have had 0 issues with people modding the game and @noobde himself has shared countless mod videos and clips praising them. The clips of my mods have over 1 billion views across all platforms that have allowed me to bring attention to the game as well as to continue supporting the team of developers I work with. My team of modders work with me on both a part-time and full-time basis and the revenue from these videos pays their wages.
“The email I have been sent directly from Warner Brothers, I am also unable to reply too. So I have no way of contacting Warner Brothers or asking what exactly do they deem infringes on their copyright. I also seem to be the only content creator that I know of that has been sent a cease and desist from Warner Brothers.
“Due to all this I am now forced to remove all videos from my channel. This isn’t what I wanted to do but I feel I have no other option. There isn’t much else I can do right now so feel free to retweet this to get Warner Bros attention.”
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Toasted went ahead to share a screenshot of all the videos he had to private to avoid losing his channel. Some of the videos, including MK1 mods that featured Disney and DreamWorks characters were uploaded as far back as December last year.
“I think the thing that breaks my heart is the most is watching Dr Phil break someone’s knee caps will never see the light of day,” Toasted added.
Did ToastedShoes infringe on Warner Bros. IP?
There is a thin line between infringing on intellectual property and modding. While modding may seem harmless, some developers and publishers frown at it for God-knows-why. Faulting Warner Bros.’ action, ToastedShoes claimed that mods are the reason why some gamers want to play a particular game.
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“Yeah it’s pretty whack,” ToastedShoes replied to a comment. “There’s clips of the mods with 50+ million views on the internet. If anything, it would make people want to play the game more would it not? I’ve had many people reply saying they are getting the game PURELY for the mods.”
However, developers and publishers can argue that modding makes it harder for their characters to stay memorable in the minds of players. It is hard to tell if that constitutes an infringement on the intellectual property of the developer of the game.
In some instances, developers and publishers release official mod tools because they want to see what the community behind their games can create. For now, there is no legal antecedent that helps to determine can be criminalized or not. So, content creators have to play by the ear and avoid litigious developers and publishers when thinking of which game to mod.
