Whether AI-generated content can benefit from copyright protection is no longer a theoretical question in the gaming and entertainment industry; it is now the subject of a concrete dispute. The rights to the character Tung Tung Tung Sahur, which became an internet phenomenon, are being argued in a case before a U.S. federal court. The case involves trademark issues as well as copyright, and it raises the question of whether the production process should be documented by game developers and content creators.
1. Background of the Dispute
Tung Tung Tung Sahur is a character created with an AI image-generation tool that quickly reached millions of people. The Indonesian content creator Noxa is identified as the character's creator, and Noxa is represented by Mementum Lab.
The companies behind the game Steal a Brainrot on the Roblox platform filed a lawsuit against Mementum Lab's claims over the character. Mementum Lab, in turn, filed a counterclaim alleging trademark infringement.
2. The Parties' Main Arguments
The game companies argue that output generated entirely by artificial intelligence does not contain the human contribution required for copyright. Mementum Lab argues that the creator's cultural background and creative choices played a role in the character's creation.
These claims have not yet been decided by a court.
3. The Legal Question: How Much Human Contribution Is Enough?
Under the approach of the U.S. Copyright Office, giving an AI model only a few commands (prompts) is not, on its own, sufficient to give rise to copyright. Assessments in this area are made separately in each specific case. Tung Tung Tung Sahur is reported to have been created with seven prompts.
The test is therefore less about whether AI was used and more about the extent to which the final work reflects the person's own creative choices, arrangements, and intervention in the AI output.
4. Beyond Copyright: The Trademark Dimension
The dispute is not limited to copyright. The use of the character in games and other commercial channels also brings trademark law into play. Where there is uncertainty regarding copyright, seeking to protect rights in a character through trademark is a noteworthy approach.
5. Points for Developers and Content Creators to Consider
For developers and content creators who produce characters or visuals with AI, the following points stand out:
a) Documenting the production process. Not only the final image but also the prompts used, revisions made, selection and editing decisions, and the stages of the creative process should be recorded.
b) Making human contribution visible. Manual edits, compositional choices, and original additions made to the output may be important in proving human contribution in the future.
c) Clarifying who holds the rights. The relationship between the person who created the character and the person who uses or licenses it commercially should be set out in writing.
d) Trademark strategy. Before the character begins to gain commercial value, trademark registration should be considered, in case copyright protection remains uncertain.
6. Assessment
The outcome of the case is not yet known. Nevertheless, the dispute is a reminder of an important point for the industry: an experiment that begins with a few prompts can quickly turn into an intellectual property asset of high commercial value. For this reason, the record of the production process, the structure of rights, and the protection strategy should be addressed before the character gains value.