Epic is Moving Forward with Suing that 14-Year-Old Kid

Hey, remember in November of last year when we learned Epic Games, in its ongoing quest to purge Fortnite of any and all cheaters, decided to try to sue a 14-year-old kid? Turns out, that didn’t just vanish after we reported on it and shared a laugh, as Epic is sticking to their guns and has just recently pushed the lawsuit into the next stages, because when you’re going to go full cartoon villain and start suing teenagers, there’s no room for second-guessing yourself.

So far the teen’s biggest defender – other than common sense – was his mother, who wrote a pretty epic letter defending her son and arguing that Epic not only had no grounds to open up a lawsuit against him, but actually broke the law themselves by doing so when they released his name to the public. Epic, however, is undeterred by her arguments, and struck back, saying:

"If an infant enters into any contract subject to conditions or stipulations, he cannot take the benefit of the contract without the burden of the conditions or stipulations"

Which, apparently, cites a 2008 case, where a high school student tried to sue a anti-cheating software company for keeping copies of their papers on files, which violated a Copyright act. The court ruled that once a minor clicks the “I agree” button of the terms and service, they can no longer use their minority as a defense.

And because this teen clicked the same “agree” button, he cannot use the “infancy defense” to wiggle away from the lawsuit.

We don’t know what the court will say on the subject, but I still wouldn’t worry too much about the kid. In the past, another Fortnite player was able to get out of a lawsuit with a written apology and a promise never to do it again, and I have a hard time believing they won’t be equally as lenient with this kid. But who knows? Can’t make an example of someone if you don’t crucify them first.