Epic Games to sue Exciting Events over Fortnite Live Norwich

Fortnite's owner Epic Games is quite used to intellectual property litigation (or at least threats of it). However, it is now turning claimant in a dispute with Exciting Events, that recently ran the unofficial live fan event 'Fortnite Live' in Norwich.

Epic Games did not seem to take any steps to prevent Fortnite Live going ahead, and has only got involved since the event ended. That may be because the event was an unmitigated disaster. Reports on the event on Facebook by disgruntled parents told stories of long queues, unsatisfactory attractions, and poor management. Many of them demanded refunds given how disappointed they were in the quality of the entertainment on offer.

While Epic Games may well have been able to prevent the event going on in the first place with a threat of intellectual property infringement (in things like the Fortnite characters, emotes, branding, and literature), it did not do so. It now seeks to litigate and seemingly only because the event was such a flop and diluted the brand.

The difficulty that Epic Games may face is in quantification of damages. It had the opportunity to prevent the event going ahead in the first place, and so it may be argued that it has not mitigated its losses sufficiently to be awarded significant damages. However, that may not be the aim here: it may be that Epic just wishes to put a stop to unsanctioned and unofficial live events from a brand protection perspective.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.