Roblox removes AI character after copyright dispute raises ownership questions

Tupac Shakur? No, Tung Tung Tung Sahur.

Roblox’s most popular game, Steal a Brainrot, has removed the AI-generated character Tung Tung Tung Sahur following a copyright dispute between the game’s developer and the character’s Indonesian creator. The controversy highlights the murky legal landscape surrounding intellectual property rights for AI-generated content, as millions of players demand answers about who can actually own characters created with artificial intelligence.

What you should know: Tung Tung, a wooden log man character, disappeared from Steal a Brainrot on September 13 after France-based company Mementum Labs claimed copyright infringement on behalf of creator Noxaasht.

• The character was originally created by Indonesian creator Noxaasht in a February 28 TikTok that has amassed 120 million views, using AI tools to blend elements from traditional Indonesian wooden instruments with visual references.
• Mementum Labs contacted the game developer’s legal representative, claiming the developer made “millions in revenue” using the character without permission.
• Game developer Sammy, based in Brazil, removed the character and wrote on TikTok that he had to “delete” it “due to copyright.”

The copyright complexity: Legal experts say AI-generated works like Tung Tung face uncertain copyright protection under current U.S. law.

• The U.S. Copyright Office determined in 2023 that art created by AI image generator Midjourney could not be copyrighted, but a 2025 report left things more open-ended.
• Michele Robichaux, a digital and interactive media attorney at North Carolina-based firm Odin Law, explains that AI-generated works could be ineligible for copyright protection “unless there is significant human involvement.”
• However, the Copyright Office has registered over one thousand AI-enhanced works, signaling potential movement toward protecting some AI-generated content.

International legal claims: Mementum’s French lawyer argues that limited use of AI tools doesn’t diminish authorship under French law.

• “French law clearly establishes authorship in favor of the natural person who conceived the work,” claims lawyer Matthieu Quiniou.
• Because of international treaties like the 1886 Berne Convention, the U.S. should honor authors’ rights established in other countries.
• Mementum describes Tung Tung’s creation as involving “several days of prompting, remixing, and iterating with new ideas” by Noxaasht.

Broader implications for the game: Steal a Brainrot’s business model faces potential legal challenges since nearly every character is based on outside AI-generated images from the “Italian brainrot” viral trend.

• The game has become Roblox’s most-played title since launching in May, amassing over 24 million concurrent players who purchase and collect viral meme monsters.
• Mementum has licensed Tung Tung to multiple other games, including Pudgy Party and an official mobile game called Tung Tung Tung Sahur.
• Robichaux warns creators that “unless they’re also doing a lot of editing on their end, or can document and establish that there was a good amount of human intervention, they might not have an IP that’s eligible for protection.”

What fans are saying: The character’s removal has sparked intense backlash from players who question whether AI-generated characters can be owned.

• YouTuber Forrest Waldron, who has 14 million subscribers, discovered the removal during a livestream and found that “nobody was giving me a straight answer” about why Tung Tung disappeared.
• Noxaasht’s comment sections were flooded with angry messages from fans wondering how someone could claim ownership of an AI-generated character.
• Recent Mementum TikTok videos feature an AI-generated Tung Tung saying: “They say AI memes aren’t real art, they deleted me from a game. No credit, no message, just gone.”