Epic Games Moves Forward with its Lawsuit Against a 14-Year Old Cheater In FORTNITE
Fortnitedeveloper Epic Games is pushing through with the lawsuit filed against a minor who was caught cheating multiple times in the game that effectively violated its terms of service. The boy’s mother attempted to have the case dismissed, but it seems that Epic is not backing down on this one and will move forward with the lawsuit.
The case was brought to the attention of the media last year when Epic filed lawsuits against two Fortniteplayers. It was not clear whether the developer knew beforehand that one of the people they’re going after is a minor. GameTyrant reached out to Epic Games a few months ago for a comment, and a PR representative told us that:
“This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promotedFortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits. Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim,” Epic explained. “Epic is not okay with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age. As stated previously, we take cheating seriously, and we’ll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players.”
During the heat of the issue last year, the mother of the minor spoke out and wrote a letter asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Epic responded to the letter recently, (which you can read in full here as obtained by TorrentFreak) disputing the points presented in the mother’s letter that claimed that Epic was unable to prove that the minor was able to modify a copyrighted game code, second, that the developer illegally disclosed the boy’s name, and third, that Epic won’t be able to prove a “profit loss” as a direct consequence of the cheating, which should be a reason enough to dismiss the case. The latest filing by Epic disputes all three points in detail.
Lastly, the fourth point reiterated that the boy is a minor and accepted Fortnite’sterms and conditions without parental consent which would mean that Epic cannot sue for damages. The developer argues that a precedent has already been set when another case, which involved students clicking “I Agree to the terms of the user agreement” and also used the “infancy defense.” However, the court ruled in that situation saying that “a valid contract existed between the minors and the software company” because the students agreed to the user agreement.
GameTyrant has reached out to Epic Games for a comment on the recent developments of the lawsuit.