GTA 5 Samsung Mod Video DMCA'd, Reinstated

Last week we wrote about a particularly creative and entertaining GTA 5 mod which rode the recent wave of controversy surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones issue with spontaneously combusting. The problem has been stealing headlines throughout the tech press sphere for weeks now, and led to the sudden popularity of the mod.

Created by modder HitmanNiko, the mod is exceedingly simple — all it does is change the in-game model of the sticky bomb to be a highly realistic model of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone. The mod quickly became one of the most downloaded files on the hosting site, and articles reporting on it sprung up all around.

The mod's author posted a demonstrative video on YouTube to show off the mod, which is common practise. However, with the extensive coverage the mod has received, it was inevitable that it would get back to Samsung's ear. No problem, though, since such a large and prominent company would surely take the joke and laugh it off, right?

Wrong. Soon after the mod achieved media fame, the YouTube video showing it off in-game was struck by a DMCA claim from Samsung, making it unavailable. I mean, I get that the company might want to prevent the spread of media that damages their image, but after their flagship phones literally exploded in the hands of the users, there isn't much image left to damage — in fact, the act of taking down the video probably hurt them even more.

However justice was served, and in spite of a butthurt Samsung's efforts, the video was reinstated by YouTube, probably under the fair use law, as the video constitutes parody and the actual 3D model of the phone used was made by the author of the mod. Naturally, the vast majority of onlookers condemned the move to have it removed, so in the end, Samsung came out a lot worse than if they would have just let the video alone.

Interestingly enough, only one video was hit, even though countless YouTubers who covered and advertised the mod had their videos unaffected. Samsung didn't contact the host site of the mod either, or was rejected, so the file itself was available for download the whole time . In fact, news of the video getting DMCA'd spread fast, and brought even more publicity for the already popular mod.

Have you tried out this hilarious GTA 5 mod?