Roblox Game Faces Legal Drama Over AI Meme Character
A bizarre internet meme named Tung Tung Tung Sahur is at the center of a major controversy, and fans of a massively popular Roblox game are shedding real tears over it. As the game Steal a Brainrot continues to break user records on both Roblox and Fortnite, it's facing intense scrutiny. The core of the issue is a lesson many are learning the hard way: you can't build a multi-million dollar game using characters you don't own, especially in the legally murky world of AI-generated content.
What is Steal a Brainrot
For those not deep in Gen Alpha internet culture, Steal a Brainrot has become a phenomenon by blending popular memes with gameplay perfect for viral video reactions. In the game, which plays like a surreal version of Pokémon, players collect creatures called "brainrots" that are based on niche internet jokes. These characters often combine everyday objects with animals, creating a bizarre and compelling collection. Their value increases the longer you hold them, but there's a catch. As the name suggests, other players can steal your brainrots at any time.
This mechanic has created a unique spectacle. While many young adults play, the game's younger audience gets deeply attached to their collections, leading to genuine distress when their creatures are stolen. This has attracted older players who play specifically to troll the younger ones, making Steal a Brainrot a fascinating, if chaotic, microcosm of digital ownership and emotion.
The Rise of Tung Tung Tung Sahur
Tung Tung Tung Sahur was one of the most beloved collectibles in the game—until it was abruptly removed. The character is a wooden drum with a blank stare, wielding a baseball bat, and is part of the Indonesian Brainrot collection. While many brainrots have cultural origins, only a few break into the global mainstream, and Tung Tung was one of them.
Its popularity is immense. A quick search reveals videos with millions of views, including one music video that has amassed over 65 million views on YouTube. While the character is often replicated using AI, it has a specific origin. Tung Tung is the creation of Noxa, an Indonesian TikToker known for creating dozens of brainrot characters. Noxa's influence is so significant that the Italian brainrot wiki describes him as "a modern genius."
A Legal Quagmire Over an AI Meme
The trouble started when Noxa, through an agency named Mememtum Lab, contacted Sammy, one of the creators of Steal a Brainrot. According to a statement from the agency, Sammy immediately involved his lawyer and pulled Tung Tung Tung Sahur from the game. The agency insists they never asked for the character's removal and hoped to negotiate a deal for its continued use.
"Steal a Brainrot is making millions in revenue using Noxa's work, in which we invest time and resources," the company stated on TikTok. "We were always open for discussion and Noxa would be happy for the players to keep playing with Tung Sahur. This situation isn't fair regarding our partners (small and big studios) who have acquired our license in all fairness."
The Complexities of AI and Copyright Law
This dispute raises a huge question: can you actually own an AI-generated image? The answer is complicated. Generally, copyright protection applies to works of human creativity. An argument can be made that when using an AI generator, the technology is the creator, not the person writing the prompts. Legal guidance on this varies by country, but the companies at the heart of this matter—Do Big Studios (Florida), Roblox (California), and Epic Games (North Carolina)—are American.
In the U.S., the law is racing to catch up with AI. A new report from the U.S. copyright office in January 2025 stated that AI outputs can be copyrighted only when a human provides "sufficient expressive elements." While recent court cases have leaned against copyrighting AI content, the legal precedent is still developing. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Steal a Brainrot is licensed on multiple platforms, creating a tangled web of user-generated, potentially AI-generated, content rights.
Fans Mourn The Loss Of A Brainrot Icon
Regardless of the legal outcome, players are devastated by Tung Tung's absence. TikTok is filled with videos of sad, alarmed, and teary-eyed fans who are heartbroken that a central figure of their game is gone. Videos commemorating Tung Tung are getting millions of views, and memes showing the character with angel wings are everywhere.
Meanwhile, the character's creator, Noxa, is facing a fierce backlash from angry fans. On one of his videos with 119 million views, a top comment reads, "You did this because of your greedy ahh," accompanied by an image of Martin Luther King crying. The outcry is fueled in part by misinformation that the entire game might be deleted.
The emotional response is palpable. "My cousin who’s in middle school said there were kids crying about this btw," reads a post on X from a YouTuber with 14 million subscribers, who scheduled a live funeral for the character. Hundreds of people waited in the stream's queue for hours, ready to pay their respects to a digital wooden drum. While anyone can still generate images of the character, for the players of Steal a Brainrot, something irreplaceable has been lost.
