The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 may be officially discontinued, but the flammable phablet's legacy lives on - much to the company's chagrin.
Samsung has reportedly issued a takedown claim against a YouTube video poking fun at the unfortunate phone's expense.
More specifically, a video of a mod in Grand Theft Auto V that allows players to use the Note 7 as a weaponized explosive.
Created by a game tinkerer under the name HitmanNiko, the mod re-skins the sticky bomb weapon to look like a Note 7, exaggerating the phone's affinity for ignition to outrageous effect in a manner fitting of ... well, Grand Theft Auto.
Something to note is that, as it currently stands, the takedown doesn't exactly have merit. YouTube's copyright violation tools are designed to shut down videos that explicit copy protected material - songs, film clips, TV episodes and the like.
Fan-made recreations of consumer products may not cut it if the video's owner files a counter-claim to get it back online, meaning that the takedown may only buy Samsung a week or so of reduced ridicule, at best.
That all said, it is possible that the takedown was a result of automated processes designed to flag questionable content on YouTube, though that seems unlikely as this is currently an isolated incident.
What do we mean by 'isolated'? Well, hunting down all instances of the mod on YouTube will be quite a feat, since the original video is far, far from the only one showcasing a virtual exploding Note 7.
Considering that bring a Note 7 on a plane could result in fines and/or criminal prosecution in the US, and that Samsung seemingly has no idea what went wrong, we'd say the company has bigger issues surrounding the real-life exploding phone than this unofficial one made by a GTA modder.
We've contacted Samsung to learn more about the nature of the takedown and its grounds for claiming copyright. We will update the story as it develops.
Top Image Credit: HitmanNiko
Via Engadget
