Do Big Studios’ Owners Sue Mementum Over Rights to AI Meme Tung Tung Tung Sahur

An AI-generated meme is now the subject of competing ownership claims in federal court. Do Big Studios’ owners have sued Mementum, the agency representing Tung Tung Tung Sahur’s creator, over its use in a Roblox game. Mementum has countersued for trademark infringement, the Guardian reported on October 6. Neither side has secured a ruling resolving the dispute.

From generated image to removal demand

An Indonesian teenager known online as Noxa created the character in 2025 using OpenAI’s image-generation tool. Also called Triple T, it depicts a smiling, humanlike kentongan—a drum used to wake south-east Asian Muslims for their pre-dawn Ramadan meal. The character became part of “Italian brain rot,” an online genre populated by deliberately bizarre AI-generated figures.

Do Big released Steal a Brainrot in May 2025, filling the Roblox game with recognizable characters from that universe. In September, its owners, Spyder Games LLC and Speedy Simulator Gaming LLC, received a cease-and-desist letter from Mementum concerning Triple T. Do Big removed the character and tried to negotiate before the owners sued in California’s Northern District.

The plaintiffs argue that the character lacks enough human authorship for copyright protection. Their lawyer, Aaron Moss, distinguishes substantial creative choices from brief instructions and selecting an output. Court documents Mementum filed in a separate French trademark dispute describe Triple T’s creation as taking about 15 minutes and seven prompts, including requests for a human face and legs.

We are not claiming in this case that AI-assisted work can never be owned by anybody

Aaron Moss, copyright lawyer representing Do Big, speaking to the Guardian

Copyright is not Mementum’s only route

The US Copyright Office’s 2025 guidance leaves room for protection of human-created expression within work containing AI material. It excludes purely AI-generated material and expression without sufficient human control. Whether a person’s contributions amount to authorship must be assessed case by case—not decided simply by the presence of an AI tool.

Mementum has pursued other routes. Its removal request under the EU’s Digital Services Act succeeded, and its US countersuit alleges trademark infringement. The agency does not yet hold a US trademark for Triple T, although registration is not always required to argue infringement. Its US lawyer, Steven Stein, describes a global strategy to make AI-involved works protectable under intellectual-property law.

An originator’s claim, a community’s contribution

The disagreement also concerns who deserves the proceeds of virality. Mementum co-founder Eben Jeda says internet-native creators can become globally visible while remaining economically invisible. Video creator Fabian Mosele argues that the people who animated and popularized these characters helped create their value, making exclusive control by the original prompter unfair.

Cornell law professor James Grimmelmann says the case could clarify what is copyrightable when AI is involved, or help establish norms for documenting creation processes. That remains a possible outcome, not a legal standard this case has already established.