In 2021, music critic and YouTuber Anthony Fantano posted a clip to where he watched someone cut a pizza into too many pieces, yelling "It's enough slices!" The clip went so viral it became a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:popular internet meme and TikTok sound bite.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Activision used the sound in a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Crash Bandicoot sneakers video in June and Fantano sent a lette༺r demanding the video be taken down. Activision complied, but Fantano allegedly said that deleting the video was not enough and demanded a six-figure payout for "substantial" monetary damages. Activision sued the TikToker in response.
According to Activision, "hundreds of thousands" of other TikTok users implemented the clip's audio into their own videos, which it claims Fantano celebrated. It also claims that the use of Fantano's audio is protected by TikTok's terms of service (giving "third-parties" the right to "modify, adapt, reproduce, [or] make derivative works") and that it pulled the audio from a list of sounds TikTok flagged as clear for commercial use.
Fantano claims it represents a "false endorsement" of the product and could lead viewers to believe that he approved of the sound's use, violating the 1946 Lanham Act (as reported by ).
According to the suit, Fantano claims "he ha🏅d reached settl🙈ements with other entities based on a similar use" and that these "entities had paid a similar sum to avoid the expense of litigation". Activision called the six-figure fee an "extortionate" price to avoid being sued, so it filed its own lawsuit in a California federal court on Monday.
The purpose of Activision's lawsuit is to acquire a court statement confirming that it is not violating the Lanham Act or Fantano's rights of publicity, while also recouping its legal bills. It also seeks a ruling that Fantano cannot sue other TikTok users over the clip.
“This dispute is a textbook example of how intellectual property law can be misused by individuals to leverage unfair cash payments,” Activision’s lawyers said. “Fantano was very happy to receive the benefit of the public use of the s꧑lices video. It was only after he identified a financial opportunity--namely, receiving unjustified settlement payments--that he suddenly decided that his consent was limited.
“With Fant🙈ano’s approval and encouragement, hundreds of thousands of TikTok users have incorporated the slices audio into their own videos over the past two years. But now … Fantano has embarked on a scheme whereby he selectively threatens to sue certain users of the slices audio unless they pay him extortionate amounts of money for their alleged use.”
Anthony Fantano has yet to publicly respond to Activision's comments or the lawsuit.