Warner Bros. is supposedly threatening to "destroy" a YouTuber's channel over Mortal Kombat 1 videos and mods.
The YouTuber, ToastedShoes, revealed the development in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that he received an email from the company. The message was an alleged IP Infringement Notification from Warner Bros.
Mortal Kombat 1 Mods Issue
(Photo : NetherRealm Studios, Warner Bros. Games / Screenshot taken from Steam)
It claimed that his videos on YouTube infringed on the company's intellectual property rights and told him to remove content that, in total, had more than 1 billion views. ToastedShoes said that Warner Bros. has had no issues for more than six months regarding people modding the game.
The YouTuber also said that NetherRealm Studios' creative director Ed Boon himself shared mod videos and clips praising them. ToastedShoes noted that his videos have allowed him to bring attention to Mortal Kombat 1 and let him support the team of developers that he works with.
ToastedShoes is popular in the community for a wide range of modding videos and his Mortal Kombat 1 content is amongst his most popular works.
He added that the email he received cannot be responded to, which means that he is unable to contact Warner Bros. directly to talk about the issue, according to VG247.
In an update, the YouTuber said that he was still not able to get a new message from Warner Bros. or NetherRealm Studios, the developer of Mortal Kombat 1, regarding the cease and desist email.
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Some of ToastedShoes' other works include adding Homer Simpson to Elden Ring and he was also the person who tempted the famously litigious Nintendo with a Palworld Pokemon conversion mod.
One of his most recent works was a Star Wars clone trooper mod for Helldivers 2 that his team had a hand in creating. This is important in context because he is by no means a solo act and his YouTube channel, taking everything into consideration, is a business with employees and salaries.
Cease and Desist Order
ToastedShoes' Mortal Kombat 1 mod content includes various characters from Disney and Pixar properties going to town on each other in NetherRealm Studios' fighter game. One of the mods features the voice of Sean Kelly, who does impressions of characters, said PCGamer.
The YouTuber also said that the copyright strikes and takedowns were filed by an "AI-powered brand protection company" that is known as Tracer. This suggests that the takedown notices were, in part, automated.
He also discussed the issue at length with his followers on X, showing them a list of the affected mod videos that have been made private. ToastedShoes also wondered about the situation, thinking that his mods would actually want to play Mortal Kombat 1 even more, according to Eurogamer.
The YouTuber said that as far as he is aware, he is right now the only content creator that has received a cease and desist order from Warner Bros. What is worth noting is that the issue seems to be a U-turn by the company, who had let the videos exist for months without any repercussions.
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