Yes, Skibidi toilet in Fortnite. This internet of crossovers has caused both confusion and joy. But what does Garry Newman, creator of Garry’s Mod, think?
First some background. Why should people care what Newman thinks about Skibidi Toilet? Well, Skibidi Toilet is a series of web shorts created by Alxey Gerasimov using Source Filmmaker, Valve’s 3D computer graphics software. Some of the assets used in the series are taken from video games such as Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, which form the basis of Garry’s Mod’s physics sandbox.
Some had wondered whether Newman himself might have objected to Fortnite’s Skibidi Toilet bundle. But Newman made his position on the issue crystal clear: he doesn’t care at all. Not only that, but he has no interest in a lawsuit, as some have said he should consider. And when you think about it, that makes a lot of sense, since the 25 million-selling Garry’s Mod wouldn’t exist without Valve’s Half-Life 2.
“I’m 42, I don’t care if Fortnite added a skibidi toilet, please don’t tell me again,” Newman tweeted.
“I’m not going to press charges,” he added in another tweet. “Basic logic should tell you this. I have no basis, desire or need. I don’t own it. I didn’t make any HL2, I didn’t make any toilet models, I didn’t make any SFM, I didn’t make any of these videos.
“Besides, I’m lazy, he could use a picture of me on the toilet and that wouldn’t outweigh how much I don’t care.”
Although Newman has distanced himself from the issue, it does raise questions about who owns Skibidi Toilet. Is it Valve, the maker of Half-Life 2 and the resources Gerasimov used to create the Skibidi Toilet shorts? Is it Gerasimov himself? Is it someone else?
In July, Newman said the “Skibidi Toilet boys” hit him with a DMCA in a wild bit of litigious irony. But shortly afterwards, a report claiming to be Gerasimov insisted he did not support the claim Newman subsequently told IGN that the issue had been “resolved.”
The copyright holder to whom the DMCA letter was attributed was Invisible storiesthe film and TV production studio working with Michael Bay on a Skibidi Toilet film. The letter quoted Skibidi Toilet characters Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman and Titan TV Man and said they were “all registered copyrights that are unique and representative of our brand.” And yes, a public catalog search reveals that Invisible Narratives had indeed claimed copyright for Titan Cameraman and three other unpublished works.
The letter added that “significant revenue is generated from unauthorized Skibidi Toilet Garry’s Mod games that are widely advertised.” The irony was not lost on Newman, who declared, “can you believe the cheek?”
Earlier this year, Facepunch has removed all Nintendo-related content on Garry’s Mod – which amounted to 20 years of uploads – from Steam Workshop after receiving a takedown notice from Nintendo. Newman is currently working on a successor to Garry’s Mod called S&box.
Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
