Activision is suing a TikToker, saying he demanded $100K+ for using a viral clip of his voice he gave away the rights to

• Video-game developer Activision is suing Anthony Fantano, a music critic who birthed a TikTok meme.
• In a lawsuit filed on July 24, the company claims Fantano demanded over $100,000 for using his sound.

Activision is suing a prominent TikToker, alleging he demanded at least $100,000 for using a viral clip of his voice in a promotional video.

The case cuts to the heart of TikTok's sharing model and whether creators can demand money for memes they are part of, even in a network predicated on mass sharing.

The lawsuit centers on a viral 19-second clip of Anthony Fantano getting steadily more frustrated with someone cutting up a pizza into ever-tinier slices.

At the end of the clip he yells "it's enough slices!" The moment has become a viral shorthand for anyone narrating an over-the-top situation. Here is the original:

TikTok says that more than 50,000 videos have been made using the sound:

Per the lawsuit, filed by Activision on Monday in a California federal court, the company joined the ranks of people using the clip to promote its Crash Bandicoot game franchise.

Then, it said, Fantano sent a legal letter demanding payment, even though his voice clip was part of a library of content TikTok offered to people to freely use.

Per the lawsuit, Fantano did not actually go as far as suing Activision. But, per the lawsuit, the company called his bluff and decided to take Fantano to court instead. In the complaint seen by Insider it asked a judge to make a pre-emptive statement that Activision had not broken the law.

Activision said it found the clip in TikTok's Commercial Sounds library — meaning it was available for commercial use without payment.

In uploading the audio to TikTok's library, Fantano gave up his rights of ownership, the suit contends. TikTok's terms of service say that by uploading content, users "waive any rights" over their content being used for marketing.

Activision, essentially, alleges that Fantano ignored this in the hope of cashing in. It called his method "a scheme whereby he selectively threatens to sue certain users of the Slices Audio unless they pay him extortionate amounts of money for their alleged use."

(It did not allege any specific times it believes Fantano did this, only the example of its video.)

Activision said it took down the video in the hope of ending Fantano's complaint there, but that he demanded "a six figure sum" in a letter sent around June 27, or the company should to be "prepared to defend a lawsuit."

"As a result, Activision had no choice but to seek declaratory relief from this Court," the suit says.

Activision in the suit argues that Fantano shouldn't be able to profit from the audio because he has acknowledged that the clip "took on a life of its own," and as such was no longer "associated with him."

It said he had no grounds to argue that Activision's use of his clip suggested he endorsed the product or had any business relationship with the company.

Activision said the case is a "textbook example" of how intellectual property law is "misused by individuals to leverage unfair cash payments." Fantano could have made the audio unavailable for public use, it says, but he didn't.

The case could set an interesting precedent: if Activision wins then companies might feel more confident remixing viral clips to promote its products.

If it loses then it could dramatically curb remixing on TikTok from people who are afraid of being hit by a lawsuit, and offer some creators a payday they did not expect.

Fantano has not yet responded to the lawsuit. Insider has contacted him for comment.