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Free Game Company Sues 14-Year-Old Over 'Cheats' Video -- Claiming DMCA Violation (bbc.co.uk)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the suing-8th-graders dept.

Bizzeh shared this report from the BBC: A mother has written a letter in defense of her 14-year-old son who is facing a lawsuit over video game cheats in the US. Caleb Rogers is one of two people facing legal action from gaming studio Epic Games for using cheat software to play the free game Fortnite. The studio says it has taken the step because the boy declined to remove a YouTube video he published which promoted how to use the software... "This company is in the process of attempting to sue a 14-year-old child," she wrote in the letter which has been shared online by the news site Torrentfreak.

Ms. Rogers added that she had not given her son parental consent to play the game as stated in its terms and conditions, and that as the game was free to play the studio could not claim loss of profit as a result of the cheats... In a statement given to the website Kotaku, Epic Games said the lawsuit was a result of Mr. Rogers "filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits... Epic is not OK with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age," it said.
Cory Doctorow counters that the 14-year-old "correctly asserted that there was no copyright infringement here. Videos that capture small snippets of a videogame do not violate that game creator's copyrights, because they are fair use..."

5 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. They may have a case by mattventura · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not sure if it went anywhere, but Blizzard was trying to sue a cheat producer a while back. Basically, the logic was "the EULA is a license to use this copyrighted work, if you break the EULA then you no longer have a license, thus cheaters are pirates". So making a video on how to cheat could very well be some kind of contributory copyright infringement. Not saying I agree with it or that it's not an overreaction, but I'm certainly not going to rush to defend an avowed cheater, 14 y/o or otherwise.

    1. Re:They may have a case by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No, it is a free game, if he didn't have a license to play it, they can kick him off that is all.

      You don't have to have special contractual permission to do things for free. If you didn't provide any "consideration" (=money) to play the game, then the terms are only what they're allowed to do, it is just notice of their policies, it isn't a contract at all.

      They can call it a "license" till they are blue in the face, but if you're not republishing their work you don't need any "license."

      Also, their DMCA request was bogus and has nothing to do with EULAs.

      "Free" software can be "used" however long it remains functioning. That's just the way it is. Sorry. It isn't enough to put a sign on your software that says, "Payment of $35 due if you use this software past 30 days." That doesn't create a requirement to pay anything! It is up to the software creator to build the software to cease functioning. OTOH, if you pay $5 for a 30 day paid trial, and it says the same thing, well then you do have a contract since you paid money and received something for it, so now they can hold you to the $35 payment.

      "Piracy" is a criminal act because it involves theft of physical property on the high seas. Pirates are best dealt with by throwing them overboard, IMO.

  2. Re:Disingenuous to focus on the defendant's age by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The studio is suing b/c the kid refused to comply with their DMCA notice. While there is a legitimate debate over whether the DMCA notice was justified, the age (or health, political views, sexual preference, etc) of the alleged defender is not an issue.

    Depends on contract law. I some places a person under a certain age cannot enter into a legal contract and thus any language in an EULA that prohibits publishing cheat codes might be unenforceable since no contract existed. Even if it was, snippets would be fair use and not a copyright violation. My guess they want dto scare the kid but just experienced an epic fail.

    --
    I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  3. Re:The DMCA by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1, Interesting

    That's the thing here. The kid is in the wrong for spreading cheats, and he can be sued for damaging Epic's business (I believe Blizzard and others have successfully done this in the past). Epic is in the wrong for trying to use DMCA, which does not apply in this case. They should have gone to court and gotten a cease and desist order, at which point the kid (and YouTube would have had to pull down the video or be in contempt of court). The parents are in the wrong for defending their cheating little shit instead of grounding him for a year, forcing him to post an apology on YouTube and just calling Epic on the phone and letting them know it was handled.

    As it stands Epic is liable for filing a false DMCA (not that there is really any recourse there), the kid is liable for damaging Epic's business, and the parents behavior largely explains the kids behavior.

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    If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
  4. I play Fortnite by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like Fortnite, it's very much like PUBG. I don't like cheaters. If this causes concern for others so be it, maybe they will stop.

    That said I've not seen any cheats/cheating in Fortnite. I shoot someone and they kill me - I'm able to see the damage I inflicted as I become a spectator at that point. And always satisfied it being a good kill.