Game Giant Activision Files Lawsuit Against Viral TikTok Star for Hilarious Pizza Meme

Highlights

TheNeedleTok rose to prominence through his YouTube channel and TikTok account, with one of his videos going viral. Unfortunately, Activision repurposed this video for an ad promoting Crash Bandicoot sneakers.

Activision claims that the meme's creator allowed free access to it, therefore users should not be required to pay, and Activision seeks reimbursement for their legal expenses. The case's significance may diminish as a result of the movement to ban TikTok.

Activision has filed a lawsuit against Anthony "TheNeedleTok" Fatano, a popular TikTok personality, regarding a pizza meme he created. The gaming company tried to use the meme in one of their advertisements without obtaining the creator's permission. This incident occurs just a few months after Activision Blizzard faced a lawsuit from the US government in April.

TikTok has been responsible for the emergence of numerous online trends and memes since its launch in September 2016. This has resulted in the rise of new Internet celebrities and the increased popularity of established content creators like Fatano. As the creator of the popular YouTube channel The Needle Drop since 2009, Fatano has garnered over 2.76 million subscribers. Additionally, his TikTok account has accumulated 1.3 million followers. Fatano primarily uses TikTok to share short-form variety content, including a viral video in April 2021 where he humorously narrates the process of slicing a pizza excessively.

In a surprising turn of events, the audio from Fatano's viral video was later used by Activision in an advertisement for Crash Bandicoot sneakers. Fatano requested compensation from Activision for their use of his content, but the publisher deemed his demands to be excessive. As a result, Activision removed the TikTok ad and decided to challenge the idea that repurposing TikTok content necessitates compensating the original creators. According to Billboard's initial report, Activision went on to file a lawsuit against Fatano, with a federal court hearing scheduled for July 24 in California.

Activision argues that by intentionally adding his commentary to the TikTok audio library, the famous music critic made it accessible to users, which is why they believe he should not be compensated. In addition to requesting a ruling preventing the content creator from suing users for using the meme, Activision also wants Fatano to cover its legal expenses related to the case.

Activision claims that Fatano took advantage of his previous success in pressuring other entities to make unwarranted settlement payments for their use of the pizza soundbite. However, it is uncertain whether this complaint will actually go to court, especially considering the current bipartisan efforts to ban TikTok in the United States.

TikTok, the Chinese social media app, has emerged as a highly profitable platform for numerous content creators. This was highlighted in a recent instance where certain TikTok stars earned substantial sums of money through peculiar NPC livestreams.