Activision is suing a TikTok content creator after he threatened to sue them for using his original audio clip

Activision is suing TikTok user and music critic Anthony Fantano for "misusing" intellectual property laws after he threatened to sue the company for using an audio clip in promotional content.

The details:

• In the original video, Fantano creates a "duet" video with another user who continues to cut a pizza into smaller and smaller slices until he shouts "It's enough slices." Since the clip's release two years ago, it has become a meme, resulting in numerous remixes, and Activision claims Fantano "leveraged the popularity" of the clip by "actively encouraging" others to use the video and its audio on social media and in YouTube videos about the topic.
• Activision then used the audio clip in its own TikTok to promote a pair of Crash Bandicoot sneakers, prompting Fantano to contact the company and request that the video be removed and a settlement be paid to the content creator. Activision then denied any wrongdoing but still removed the video, prompting Fantano to respond by declaring that he intended to sue the publisher in the state of New York because a simple removal was insufficient. Activision was informed by Fantano's lawyer that he was seeking a "six-figure sum" settlement for the situation.
• In response, the company has filed a lawsuit in California, requesting a jury trial and "declaratory relief." If the court rules in favor of Activision, Fantano's lawsuit will be dismissed. According to Activision, TikTok's terms of service state that uploading videos to the site grants anyone the right to "modify, adapt, reproduce, [or] make derivative works" of the content, and that the sound was cleared for commercial use.

More Activision Blizzard news:

• Activision Blizzard has laid off approximately 50 employees from its esports division, leaving fans to wonder what will become of its competitive Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues in the future. Before the layoffs, the company was working on new tools to run tournaments, and it has been suggested that esports will be handled by an external contractor in the future.
• Overwatch 2 will be released on Steam in August, marking the first time that a Blizzard game has been released on PC outside of Battle.net since 1996. It also confirmed that more titles from its catalog will be released in the future.