Yes, the Skibidi toilet in Fortnite. This most internet-heavy crossover has caused as much confusion as delight. But what does Garry Newman, creator of Garry’s Mod, think about all this?
First, some background. Why should people care what Newman thinks about the Skibidi toilet? Well, Skibidi Toilet is a series of tiny web films created by Alxey Gerasimov using Source Filmmaker, Valve’s 3D computer graphics software. Some of the assets used in the series come from video games such as Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, which form the basis of Garry’s Mod’s physics sandbox.
Some wondered whether Newman himself might have disagreed with Fortnite’s Skibidi toilet suite. But Newman has made his position on the matter abundantly clear: he doesn’t really care. Moreover, he is not interested in filing a lawsuit, as some say he should consider doing. And when you think about it, it makes sense, considering Garry’s Mod, which sold 25 million copies, wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Valve’s Half-Life 2.
“I’m 42 years old, I don’t care if Fortnite added a skibidi toilet, please stop telling me” Newman wrote on Twitter.
“I won’t sue” he added in another tweet. “Basic logic should tell you this. I have no foundations, desires or needs. I don’t own this. I didn’t make hl2, I didn’t make any toilet models, I didn’t do that’ don’t do sfm, I didn’t make any of those videos.
“Besides, I’m lazy, he could use a photo of me in the bathroom and it wouldn’t outweigh how much I can’t care less about it.”
While Newman distanced himself from the issue, it raises questions about who actually owns Skibidi Toilet. Is it Valve, the creator of Half-Life 2, and the assets Gerasimov used to create the Skibidi Toilet shorts? Is it Gerasimov himself? Is it someone else?
In July, Newman said that “the guys at Skibidi Toilet” had DMCAed him in a move of wild judicial irony. However, shortly thereafter, the person claiming to be Gerasimov insisted that he was not behind the claim, and Newman then told IGN that the matter was “resolved.”
The copyright owner assigned to the DMCA letter was Invisible narrativesfilm and television production studio working with Michael Bay in the film about Skibidi toilets. The letter cited the characters Skibidi Toilet, Titan Cameraman, Titan Speakerman and Titan TV Man, stating that “all are registered copyrights that are unique and representative of our brand.” Sure, reveals public directory search that Invisible Narratives actually claimed copyright to 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 advertised everywhere.” The irony was not lost on Newman who declared, “Can you believe the cheeks?”
Earlier this year Facepunch has removed all Nintendo-related content in Garry’s Mod – which amounted to 20 years of file uploads – from the Steam Workshop after receiving a takedown request from Nintendo. Newman is currently working on a successor to Garry’s Mod called S&box.
Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wy100@proton.me.
