Fortnite developer sues 2 YouTubers

Crown

Crown

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, has filed suit against two YouTubers for using cheats in the game, and then — this part applies to only one of the defendants — selling that programming to other players.

The YouTubers being sued are Brandon Lucas, aka ‘Golden Modz,’ a high-profile player with 1.7 million subscribers who nets between five and 10 million views per month, and Colton Conter, whose ‘Exentric’ channel has just over 7,000 subscribers.

Epic filed suit in federal court in North Carolina, where the company is based. In the filing, which was first reported by TorrentFreak, Epic claims Lucas uses cheats called ‘aimbots,’ which are pieces of programming that can make a player’s weapon automatically target an enemy’s head. And in addition to using cheats himself — apparently including in a video he uploaded just a week ago, called Venom Uses Aimbot On Angry Kids In Fortnite — Lucas operates a site called ‘Golden Godz’ where he sells aimbots. The site, which no longer appears to have any items for sale, previously offered customers ’30 days of cheat’ for $54.99 and a ‘lifetime of cheat’ for $299.99, Epic alleges.

Cheats for sale​

goldengodz.jpg


As for Conter, Epic says he posted YouTube videos showcasing him using cheats while playing. Epic submitted a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube, calling the videos unlawful derivative works of Fortnite because Conter had used cheats to alter the coding of the game. As requested, YouTube removed nine videos from Conter’s channel. Per court documents, Conter then appealed the removals, saying, “My videos fall under YouTube’s fair use policy and all of the videos are my own creation and I am willing to defend these claims in court.”

For the rest of story: https://www.tubefilter.com/2018/10/...-two-youtubers-for-using-selling-cheat-codes/

and

https://torrentfreak.com/epic-games-sues-youtuber-golden-modz-over-magical-fortnite-powers-181012/

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Are the game creators being too heavy-handed or are they right to take legal action about this? My opinion is cheat codes spoil games and I can't believe this guy even tried selling them. Thoughts?
 
Crown said:
I can't believe this guy even tried selling them
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this is always happening in games, software, books whatever.
the one thing that i can't believe is that he advertised his "services" in full name and in public.
Perhaps he first took legal advice and saw that he can.
Either he is not such a a smart person...
:(
 
In this case I side with the developer. The content creator in question should not be "selling" cheats and aimbots on top of him show casing game alteration in the video itself. If he was just cheating....fine, lots of people do that. But selling said cheats too? I dunno about that one. But to me he's in the wrong there.

I also think he was too quick to fight back with an appeal saying "My videos fall under YouTube’s fair use policy and all of the videos are my own creation and I am willing to defend these claims in court." Okay then. Let's see how this turns out.
 
I've read that large game developers spend zillions building their game and the infrastructure that goes with it. If small groups start playing with cheat codes in a P v. P environment, main stream players get frustrated with their play experience and quickly move on to a competitor with a less toxic environment. That means the investors lose.

This means developers will spend money trying to protect their environment from "poison" so they can keep their player base coming back again and again. That can't afford to just sit back anymore like game companies in decades past.

What feels off here is the developer is using copyright rules as a means to fire back at the creator of the cheat code. YouTube just happens to be how they learned about it. Unlawful derivative works is clever. But what they're really mad about is the proliferation of the cheat code itself, not the videos displaying their game.
 
Sometimes I don't understand people who use cheats or buy it especially aim bots in a online games. What purpose do they serve? Just to annoy people. It ruin the overall gaming experience and suck the fun when all the players do is just rely on cheats to win for them. Gotta get that 1st place win so I can brag at my social media accounts and my friends. Amateur. Shame on those guys for selling cheats for easy profits. Epic should track down more of these people.
 
Imaginary Dave said:
I've read that large game developers spend zillions building their game and the infrastructure that goes with it. If small groups start playing with cheat codes in a P v. P environment, main stream players get frustrated with their play experience and quickly move on to a competitor with a less toxic environment. That means the investors lose.
Click to expand...

Very good post. That's my feeling too. Using cheat codes to play a 1 player game vs the computer is acceptable but in multiplayer online games, it totally ruins the game by creating that unlevel playing field. Once people feel there is a chance they're playing against people who are cheating, they stop playing.
 
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