Disney has shut down 'Club Penguin Rewritten.'

The mass media corporation still holds the copyright to the children's online game that allowed players to participate in a real-time virtual world with avatar penguins - which closed down in 2017 after operating for over a decade and gaining more than 200 million users worldwide - and a fan-made remake has been shut down in a copyright claim.

However, an admin of the server claimed that the website was handed over "voluntarily" to authorities once the complaint had made.

A statement posted to the Discord website read: "We have voluntarily given control over the website to the police for them to continue their copyright investigation. We have voluntarily given control over the website to the police for them to continue their copyright investigation."

A message on the website reads: "This site has been taken over by Operation Creative, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU)" and three arrests have reportedly been made in connection with the case.

The news comes just over two years after Disney were forced to shut down another clone of their famous children's game when it became apparent that the site had become littered with sexual content and bigoted language, sparking the company to take action in the interests of child safety.

At the time, Disney told the BBC in a statement: "Child safety is a top priority for the Walt Disney Company and we are appalled by the allegations of criminal activity and abhorrent behavior on this unauthorized website that is illegally using the Club Penguin brand and characters for its own purposes