Epic sues YouTubers for using and selling Fortnite cheats

Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against two YouTubers, accusing the pair of copyright infringement and breach of contract for both using and promoting the use of Fortnite cheats.

This isn’t the first time Epic Games has taken Fortnite players to court over cheating accusations; the developer notably sued two individuals last year over using and distributing cheats for the game, though it was later discovered that one defendant was a minor.

This time around, however, the two defendants in question both maintain a sizable following on YouTube, where they’re accused of sharing videos of them using Fortnite cheats and, and in the case of one party, selling the Fortnite cheats themselves.  

The bulk of the accusations in the legal complaint spotted by TorrentFreak look to be levied against Brandon Lucas, the owner of the YouTube channel Golden Modz. Lucas’ channel has over 1.7 million subscribers at the time of the complaint and, according to Epic’s lawsuit, hosts videos that both show off Fortnite cheats in action and direct viewers toward a site owned by Lucas that sells access to Fortnite cheats. Those cheats, specifically aimbots, are sold for $54.99 for 30 days of access or $299.99 for lifetime use. 

Epic also lists Colton Conter in the lawsuit, claiming that Conter routinely shares similar videos under the username Exentric to his 7,000 subscribers.

“In some of their YouTube videos, Defendants play (sometimes together) in duos and squads, and joke that the cheat software gives its users 'magical' powers, allowing them to 'troll' Fortnite by killing dozens of other players and 'win' the game,” explains the complaint. “Each Defendant created, posted, and publicly performed videos on his respective YouTube channel showing himself and/or others using hacks to cheat at Fortnite in part to demonstrate, advertise, and promote the cheats that Lucas sells on his websites.”

The legal issue stems from the fact that injecting any code into Fortnite that modifies the game itself violates Epic’s copyrights, a violation that is only further aggravated by the fact that both defendants regularly shared video of the cheats in action. 

All in all, Epic is suing the pair for copyright infringement and breach of contract for the use of Fortnite cheats. Additionally, Lucas on his own is accused of contributory copyright infringement, intentional interference with contractual relations, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and unfair methods of competition.

Epic is asking the court to order both parties to destroy any and all infringing videos of hacks as well as the hacks themselves, and pay the developer damages to be determined at a later point.