Epic files the next lawsuit! This time they are targeting companies that sell merchandise from Fortnite without a license.
This is what the lawsuit looks like: Epic demands damages from any company that illegally sells Fortnite merchandise. The lawsuit was filed in a court in Illinois and concerns a group of “unregistered associations.”
Epic aims to achieve an injunction against this distribution and also insists that distribution platforms take stricter action against it.
Merchandise looks deceptively real
This is how Epic describes the problem: Online stores are to be set up that look particularly authentic and give the impression that they are selling licensed products from Fortnite.
This would “mislead the unsuspecting consumer when using the Fortnite brand.”
What does Epic demand? They want damages of $2 million for each individual use of the Fortnite brand.
Additionally, platforms like Amazon should be held responsible for not offering products from the accused companies anymore. Social media sites like Twitter or Facebook should also remove the alleged counterfeiters.
Here are the problems: It is often difficult to determine who is actually behind the online shops. Incorrect names and addresses are reportedly used. If a site is sued, the operator simply shuts it down and creates another platform with a new domain.
What kind of products are these? The companies sell almost everything that can be printed with Fortnite. The products are often significantly cheaper than normal merchandise. This is logical, as the companies do not have to pay the expensive rights to Epic.
This is how Epic’s lawsuits are looking: The developer behind Fortnite is currently busy with lawsuits. A few days ago, they filed a lawsuit against a tester for leaking many details about Chapter 2.
A 14-year-old boy also came into contact with Epic’s lawyers because he cheated in the game. In the end, he had to delete videos and links to the cheats.
Epic itself is also often sued. There was a class action lawsuit because Fortnite is said to be addictive:
