Fortnite – Page 12 – MMO Fallout

Infamous for their reluctance to engage in courtroom shenanigans, Epic Games has filed a lawsuit. The company is pursuing Sick Picnic Media and Matthew Geiler in a move that can only be described as “you’re not taking us to court, we’re taking you to court.”

The lawsuit is over something old, something new, something licensed, and something…orange. Matthew Geiler may be best known to the internet memesters union as the guy behind that dancing pumpkin video that went viral many many years ago. The lawsuit stems from the use of the pumpkin man dance in an emote available in Epic Games’ lesser known title; Fortnite.

“This case concerns one of those emotes: a Halloween-themed emote called “Pump It Up” that Epic Games made available for a single day shortly before Halloween in the fall of 2019 as part of its annual Fortnitemares event (the “Pump It Up Emote”). In the Pump It Up Emote, the avatar performs a brief dance to a Halloween-themed song developed by Epic Games while the head of whatever avatar the player has selected is transformed into a jack-o’-lantern face designed by Epic Games.”

This isn’t the first time Epic has been sued over the use of dances in Fortnite, although every single one of those suits were voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs. What makes this one different is that Epic is suing the dance creator for a preliminary declaration of non-infringement. Similar to their lawsuit against Acceleration Bay, Epic has taken the preventative step of asking the court to decide on a potential lawsuit before the would-be plaintiff ever files it.

Oh and unlike the previous lawsuits, Epic Games actually licensed the dance. The lawsuit goes on to state that Epic Games and Geiler actually licensed the use of the dance, which Geiler happily admits to on Facebook (making for great evidence that Epic handed to the court). Geiler actually says “Luckily they did a licensing deal with me
ahead of time!” Despite admitting to having a licensing deal in place, Geiler has apparently been submitting cease & desist notices to Epic demanding that they remove the emote. Epic now pleads the court for a ruling of non-infringement.

Source: Lawsuit

In Plain English: The Grinch Who Spoiled Fortnite

Dear internet,

That video game nondisclosure agreement that your buddies tell you doesn’t matter because “it’s video games” and thus not enforceable in court? It’s probably enforceable in court. In fact it’s very likely enforceable.

To the shock of the world and heaven in the sky, Epic Games has filed a lawsuit this week against a user of Fortnite. The lawsuit targets Ronald Sykes (aka “@Snipa_King2k,” aka “@FNGzus,” aka “@invisiblellama9”) and alleges that Sykes spoiled the surprise of Fortnite Chapter 2 in breach of a nondisclosure agreement.

“Epic is suing Sykes because he broke his contractual obligation to keep Epic’s secrets about the upcoming season of Fortnite®, Epic’s popular video game. Information is currency. Sykes cashed in on what he learned as a User Experience tester for Epic. He did so at the expense of Epic and those in the Fortnite community who were anxiously awaiting the new season of Fortnite only to have some of Epic’s planned surprises spoiled by Sykes’ leaks.”

Sykes was a member of the User Testing Experience, which is fancy talk for confidential beta tester. He along with a number of others were given the opportunity to test Fortnite’s big new update, presumably so it would be as fine tuned as possible before Epic released it to the masses. Sykes allegedly disclosed those secrets before they were meant to be public.

Fortnite Chapter 2’s reveal for those who weren’t glued to their computer for the weekend was massive. The servers went offline for two days as the game was literally engulfed in a black hole, resulting in all sorts of streaming records being broken as people watched a black hole in anticipation of what would come next. The event had been preceded by easter eggs being dropped into the game throughout the past seasons of the game, and ultimately it was a major product of Epic’s work.

Epic is seeking civil relief under the Defense Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) as well as the North Carolina Trade Secrets Protection Act (NCTSPA). The DTSA allows for damages for actual loss, any unjust enrichment caused by the leak of trade secrets, and in cases of willful and malicious disclosure, exemplary damages may be awarded of up to two times the actual loss/unjust enrichment.

The NCTSPA is similar in that the language allows for compensation for economic loss or unjust enrichment, as well as punitive damages in cases of willful violation. The lawsuit alleges that Sykes created several Twitter accounts to leak the new map introduced with Fortnite Chapter 2 as well as a number of new features coming to the game.

Epic seeks injunctive relief as well as attorneys’ costs and fees, and economic damages as well as punitive damages as allowed under law. As always, MMO Fallout has provided the relevant documents at our Google Drive for those who wish to read them.

Source: Google Drive

Not Massive: Fortnite Corroborates Child’s Knowledge of Guns

Who said video games would never offer real world experience?

Today’s human interest piece comes to us from a child custody case in the Eastern District of New York. The petitioner is the father of a child who had petitioned the court for the return of his son to Ecuador. The child, a nine year old, had been retained in the United States by the mother and without the consent of the father since mid-2018. The father (petitioner) owns a gun shop and warehouse in Ecuador and is a dealer of firearms and accessories (Editor’s note: It should be noted that the firearm business is legal/legitimate). During the custody hearing, the child testified to the father having guns in the house, on display, within the reach of a child. How did the child know the identity of the guns? Fortnite.

According to the testimony, the child was able to verify what he had seen in the house including a silencer and a shotgun because he had seen something similar in Fortnite.

The story does not have a great ending, as the court eventually ruled that the child would be returned to Ecuador under Hague Convention. Still, the court did not seem to have any reason to doubt the child’s game-based knowledge.

The full entry can be found at the link below. Content Warning: The document below has been included for those who wish to view it. It contains numerous detailed allegations of the repeated physical and verbal abuse of a child by a parental figure.

Source: Eastern District of New York

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