On July 24, video game publisher Activision filed a lawsuit against creator and music critic Anthony Fantano (@theneedledrop), but the end goal is not likely what you’d expect. The strategic move by Activision aims to cut off Fantano’s demands for a six-figure payout and from filing his own lawsuit against the company.
In a now-deleted TikTok, Activision used a portion of Fantano’s viral, 19-second TikTok original sound to promote the creation of custom sneakers depicting characters from the “Crash Bandicoot” video game franchise. The original sound is an extract from Fantano’s TikTok Duet in which he reacts to another user’s video of a pizza being cut over 15 times into absurdly small slices. By the end, Fantano is yelling, “IT’S ENOUGH SLICES!”
According to the complaint, The Needle Drop creator sent a settlement demand letter to Activision in June, claiming the game company used Fantano’s voice and video without permission. Activision defended using the audio clip but agreed to take down its video. By July, Fantano’s legal counsel still demanded a lot of dough (a six-figure sum in line with what other commercial users had already paid per the complaint), claiming Activision’s use of the audio clip resulted in a false endorsement. …
