Epic Games has gone through a lot of trouble due to cosmetic items in "Fortnite Battle Royale." As a free-to-play game that is available on almost every current-generation platform, the popular video game relies on its players purchasing cosmetic items from the in-game store. There are many different types of cosmetic items, but the most popular are outfits (skins) and emotes (animations players can use at will).
The "Fortnite Battle Royale" developer has dealt with many lawsuits in the past two years due to copyright infringement. So far, no one has done any damage to the company, but it appears that lawsuits will not stop anytime soon.
Recently, it was revealed that the gaming company was sued by Matthew Geiler, better known as the "Dancing Pumpkin Man."
Geiler sued Epic Games despite signing a licensing deal
The latest lawsuit against Epic Games is related to the "Pump It Up" emote, which was released during the Fortnitemares 2019 event. The "Fortnite" developer has released numerous Halloween-themed cosmetic items during this event, and one of them was based on a 2006 viral video.
Matthew Geiler, the creator of the "Pumpkin Dance" video, the emote resembles, drafted a cease-and-desist letter to Epic Games, threatening a lawsuit regarding the released emote. The video, which was posted on YouTube back in 2006, has gone viral and currently has over 9.2 million views.
Geiler stated that he was “prepared to take all necessary actions to protect the Dancing Pumpkin Man character” if the "Fortnite Battle Royale" developer doesn't remove the controversial emote from the game.
The creator of the viral video has, however, made a licensing deal with Epic Games to use his moves for "Fortnite." This has been confirmed by Geiler himself.
Epic Games has responded
Epic Games has almost immediately responded to Matthew Geiler, filing a complaint against him and his creative consulting company. The game developer claims that the "Dancing Pumpkin Man" is not a trademarked character, which voids Geiler's cease-and-desist request. Furthermore, the gaming company suggests that Geiler has no right to the character since he has made the costume himself from preexisting Halloween decorations.
In addition to this, the outfit that appears in the video is not similar to the in-game emote, and characters with pumpkin heads are common in many other creative works related to Halloween, including movies and other Video Games, says Epic Games.
Epic Games will probably keep the emote in the game, and in addition to it, the company has asked the dance creator to cover legal fees and other expenses if the court rules in favor of Epic Games.
