A Roblox studio made $11,000,000 a month off an Indonesian teen's character.
They paid him absolutely nothing.
Not even a dollar.
Instead, they sued him in US federal court to prove they owe him $0.
This is the story of Fernanda Bagas Indrastata, the creator of "Tung Tung Tung Sahur"
February 28, 2025
- Indonesian teenager Fernanda Bagas Indrastata (known online as Noxa)
- opens DALL-E the day before Ramadan
- types 7 prompts in 15 minutes
- creates a smiling wooden drum called "Tung Tung Tung Sahur"
- his original TikTok video alone hits 93 million views
over the next few months
- videos of the character pull hundreds of millions of views globally
- plushies, perfumes, and cosplays flood the internet
- Indonesian studio Dee Company invites him in for movie talks
- Epic Games even signs a deal to put him in Fortnite
May 2025
- Do Big Studios launches a Roblox game called Steal a Brainrot
- puts Noxa's character right inside the game
- explodes to 25.8 million concurrent players and 60 billion visits
- pulls in an estimated $11,000,000 a month at its peak
He has no idea what's coming.
September 2025
- a French agency (Mementum Lab) steps in to represent the teen
- asks the Roblox studio to pay for using his character
- the studio's owners (Spyder Games LLC) refuse to pay a cent
- instead, they sue first in California federal court
their message to the judge:
"Mementum's claimed rights do not exist. Under established law, copyright protection requires human authorship, and AI-generated material does not qualify."
what the studio says the creator is owed:
$0.
because he typed 7 prompts in 15 minutes instead of drawing it by hand, the studio argues the character belongs to the public domain.
the same company printing millions off his character went to federal court to make sure the teenager who created it gets nothing.
Noxa's lawyers are now countersuing for trademark infringement just to fight back.
60 billion game visits.
$11,000,000 a month in peak revenue.
and all the kid got was a federal lawsuit.