Activision is suing TikTok creator Anthony Fantano (aka "Needletok" or "The Needle Drop") in an effort to stymy the video maker's recent legal threats over Activision's use of his content in a Crash Bandicoot video.
Per the official complaint filing, Activision's lawsuit pertains to a TikTok of Fantano's from 2021 dubbed the "Slices Video," which went viral at the time. In the following years, Activision claims "hundreds of thousands" of TikTok users have incorporated audio from said video into their own TikTok (generally the "It's enough slices!" meme), something that Fantano is claimed to have celebrated and even boasted about in a subsequent video.
However, Activision goes on to claim that when the company attempted to use Fantano's audio in its own TikTok about Crash Bandicoot sneakers, Fantano claimed it constituted a "false endorsement" of the sneakers and could mislead viewers into thinking he approved of or was otherwise connected to the sneakers, in violation of the 1946 Lanham Act. Activision says that Fantano has demanded that Activision pay him "substantial" monetary damages, or he will sue, despite Activision having since taken down the clip.
Activision claims its use of Fantano's audio is protected by TiKTok's Terms of Service, which state that users "may...extract all or any portion of User Content created by another user to produce additional User Content." Additionally, the suit notes that Fantano made the audio available in TikTok's audio library deliberately for others to use. The company seeks a statement from the court declaring that Activision is not in violation of the Lanham Act nor of violating Fantano's rights of publicity.
Fantano has yet to issue a response or comment on the situation.
