AI character rights challenged in court: the dispute over Tung Tung Tung Sahur

Spyder is challenging Mementum's rights to AI characters, while Mementum has filed counterclaims for trademark infringement.

Tung Tung Tung Sahur was created in 2025 in 15 minutes using 7 prompts to OpenAI's image generator, according to the Guardian's Oct 6, 2026 report.

An Indonesian creator known as Noxa turned a wooden kentongan drum into a character with a human face and legs. Companies are now disputing the rights to such characters in the US District Court for the Northern District of California: Spyder filed suit on Nov 26, 2025, and Mementum filed counterclaims on Apr 24, 2026.

Rights under the terms. OpenAI's terms dated Jan 1, 2026 assign ownership of generated output to the user to the extent permitted by applicable law. In its Jan 29, 2025 report, the US Copyright Office stated that prompts alone are insufficient for copyright protection. A human's creative arrangement or modification of the output may qualify for protection.

Human contribution. To register a work containing AI material, the office instructs applicants to use the Standard Application and describe the human contribution in the Author Created field. Substantial AI material must be excluded from the claim through Material Excluded → Other. This guidance has been in effect since Mar 16, 2023.

In Spyder v. Mementum, the court's order No. 49, dated Jul 29, 2026, required Mementum to provide discovery under US procedural rules. The company had requested discovery under the Hague Convention, but the court denied that request.

Primary sources: [The creation of Tung Tung Tung Sahur, Guardian, Oct 6, 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/06/brain-rot-tung-tung-tung-sahur-noxa-openai-video), [the complaint, counterclaims and order No. 49](https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/5:2025cv10248/460442/49), [the US Copyright Office's findings on prompts and human contribution](https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2025/1060.html), [registration guidance for works containing AI material](https://www.copyright.gov/ai/ai_policy_guidance.pdf), [OpenAI's terms on rights to output](https://openai.com/policies/row-terms-of-use/).

The discovery requests cover how the characters were created, the transfer of rights to Mementum, trademark evidence, damages and steps taken to protect intellectual property.

AI character rights challenged in court: the dispute over Tung Tung Tung Sahur

Spyder is challenging Mementum's rights to AI characters, while Mementum has filed counterclaims for trademark infringement.

Tung Tung Tung Sahur was created in 2025 in 15 minutes using 7 prompts to OpenAI's image generator, according to the Guardian's Oct 6, 2026 report.

The discovery requests cover how the characters were created, the transfer of rights to Mementum, trademark evidence, damages and steps taken to protect intellectual property.