Activision suing TikTok user over Crash Bandicoot and pizza content
Activision is suing music critic and TikToker Anthony Fantano (aka NeedleTok), following an ongoing back and forth regarding pizza slices and Crash Bandicoot trainers.
As laid out in the case's legal documents, this dispute all comes from a 19-second audio clip that originated from a video Fantano uploaded about those aforementioned pizza slices.
In this TikTok clip from 2021, Fantano reacts to a video of someone else cutting a pizza up into smaller and smaller pieces. «It's enough slices!», the exasperated Fantano shouts.
Some time after this TikTok was uploaded and made popular, Activion used the audio clip to promote a pair of Crash Bandicoot-themed trainers in its own TikTok video. Fantano's clip was reportedly made available for commercial use, and the company did not see any issue using its audio.
It was this that started off a back and forth between the two parties.
On hearing of Activision's promo for the trainers, Fantano contacted the publisher, and asked it to remove the video. The Tiktoker then demanded Activision pay a settlement for its actions.
Following this request, Activision responded and denied it had done anything wrong. It noted the audio had been used before by other content creators, and that Fantano had celebrated these inclusions.
«Notwithstanding that thousands of TikTok videos containing the Slices Audio have been available on TikTok for years without complaint, Fantano suddenly decided that Activision's video infringed his publicity rights and constituted a false endorsement,» the lawsuit reads.
Regardless of this, the company agreed to remove the video «to avoid litigation, and without any admission of liability».
However, this seemingly wasn't enough for Fantano, who reportedly got
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