Activision sues music critic to fend off TikTok audio copying claims

Activision Blizzard

25/07/2023 17:55

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      Activision said Anthony Fantano threatened to sue company
    

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      Lawsuit said TikTok terms of service allow it to use
Fantano's
viral audio
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       July 25 (Reuters) - Video-game maker Activision  ATVI.O 
sued internet personality Anthony Fantano in Los Angeles federal
court on Monday, seeking a declaration that syncing his viral
audio clip to one of its TikTok videos did not violate his
publicity rights or imply that he endorsed the company.
    Responding to Fantano's alleged threats to sue, Activision
said TikTok's terms of service allowed it to use the audio and
that a reasonable person would not think that he endorsed
Activision or the video.
    Activision also said Fantano had created an extortionate
"scheme" to profit from the viral audio through threats of
litigation.
    Representatives for Activision, Fantano and TikTok did not
immediately respond to requests for comment on the case on
Tuesday.
    Fantano is best known as an internet-based music critic
through his YouTube page The Needle Drop. A TikTok video of his
reaction to a video of a pizza being sliced went viral in 2021.
    Activision's complaint said Fantano made the reaction audio
available for other TikTok users to reuse and that hundreds of
thousands have incorporated it into their own videos. Activision
used Fantano's audio in a TikTok video in June showing a pair of
custom sneakers being made with imagery from its video game
series "Crash Bandicoot."
    Fantano allegedly sent Activision a cease-and-desist letter
and demanded a settlement payment last month. Activision's
lawsuit said the company took the video down earlier this month,
but Fantano's attorney threatened to sue shortly after unless it
agreed to settle for a "six-figure sum."
    According to the lawsuit, Fantano's lawyer said other
entities had settled disputes over the audio for similar
amounts. Activision said the dispute was a "textbook example of
how intellectual property law can be misused by individuals to
leverage unfair cash payments from users of social media
networks such as TikTok."
    
    The case is Activision Publishing Inc v. Fantano, U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California, No.
2:23-cv-05989.
    For Activision: Marc Mayer of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp
    For Fantano: attorney information not yet available

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))