Prolific Mortal Kombat 1 Modder Accuses Warner Bros. of ‘Threatening to Destroy My YouTube Channel’

ign.com:

One of the most high-profile Mortal Kombat 1 modders on YouTube has pulled their content offline after alleging Warner Bros. “threatened to destroy” his channel.

Toasted tweeted to allege Warner Bros. had issued an intellectual property infringement notification that states the Mortal Kombat mods showcased in his videos “infringe” on the company’s IP rights. Toasted claimed that Warner Bros., which owns the Mortal Kombat IP as well as its developer, NetherRealm, requested he delete all Mortal Kombat 1 videos from his channel “or else they will issue copyright strikes and essentially delete my channel in its entirety."

These are all the videos I've had to private, I'm sorry to everyone who enjoyed them but Warner Bros isn't really giving me a choice pic.twitter.com/AB6fop5ot3

IGN has verified the notification, sent by AI-powered brand protection company Tracer. It includes the takedown request, which also extends to Toasted’s Patreon, where the mods in question were made available to download to subscribers. IGN has confirmed Toasted has also pulled the Mortal Kombat 1 mods down from his Patreon. IGN has asked Warner Bros. for comment.

I voiced Rick, Morty, and Meeseeks in another @ToastedShoes mod :) pic.twitter.com/IoI5GgBLhT

Toasted’s Mortal Kombat 1 mod videos have showcased NetherRealm’s fighting game with various characters from the likes of Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Warner Bros., and Dreamworks properties. In January 2024, IGN reported on how Toasted had replaced the likes of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Liu Kang with Woody from Toy Story, Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles, and even Carl Fredricksen from Up for various Mortal Kombat 1 mod videos. Other mod videos showed Rick & Morty and Family Guy in gory Mortal Kombat 1 battles.

I voiced Morty, Rick, and Meeseeks in a ToastedShoes mod :) pic.twitter.com/pftgehu7mS

Toasted said clips of his mods have more than one billion views across all platforms, and highlighted that NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon has shared