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The lawsuit involves a pro video gamer and his team, alleging that the Gamer Agreement is \u201cexploitative\u201d and \u201coppressive,\u201d and that the team is acting as an agent in violation of the California Talent Agency Act.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n Tfue, real name Turner Tenney, filed the lawsuit early last week against his team, FaZe Clan.\u00a0 Tfue is one of the world\u2019s most popular and prominent pro-Fortnite[2]<\/a> players.\u00a0 He has won a number of Fortnite matches, earning himself hundreds of thousands.\u00a0 Tfue is also a content creator, who streams content on Twitch to hundreds of thousands of viewers and generates YouTube videos receiving millions of views.<\/p>\n FaZe Clan is, in large part, an esports organization that represents many competitive video games and is involved in multiple videogame franchises.\u00a0 FaZe Clan\u2019s players are also content generators who, like Tfue, stream content on Twitch and upload videos to YouTube and other social media sites.<\/p>\n Tfue\u2019s lawsuit alleges that the Gamer Agreement is \u201coppressive\u201d because it permits FaZe Clan to act as Tfue\u2019s agent for all branding, sponsorship, and appearance deals.\u00a0 FaZe Clan then keeps\u2014or is at least entitled to collect\u201480% of the money generated from these deals, while it only gives 20% to Tfue.\u00a0 The Gamer Agreement also limits Tfue\u2019s ability to solicit his own branding, sponsorship, and appearance deals as well as his ability to join other gaming teams, even after he leaves FaZe.<\/p>\n While Tfue\u2019s lawsuit is still in its infancy, it is already generating drama in the internet community.\u00a0 A number of prominent pro video gamers have commented on the lawsuit, including Ninja<\/a>, real name Tyler Blevins.\u00a0 Popular YouTube personality Philip DeFranco has also commented on the lawsuit here<\/a> and here<\/a>.\u00a0 The Blast, an online celebrity tabloid, entered the fray and leaked Tfue\u2019s Gamer Agreement<\/a> (PDF<\/a>).\u00a0 We will be doing a separate blog outlining Tfue\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n In litigating Tfue\u2019s lawsuit, some interesting and contentious issues are likely to arise.\u00a0 One of those likely issues will ask whether California law even applies.\u00a0 A related issue is whether the California courts are the right venue for the lawsuit.\u00a0 The answers to these questions will depend on a number of factors.\u00a0 Consideration will certainly be given to the Gamer Agreement provisions, which provide for the application of New York law, and venue in New York City.\u00a0 The courts may also look to whether applying the contractual provisions are reasonable in light of the fact that Tfue and FaZe Clan reside in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0 In addition, the fact that Tfue\u2019s content is available throughout the U.S. may also influence the courts.<\/p>\n Which substantive laws the courts turn to in resolving Tfue\u2019s dispute will also be a central and contentious issue.\u00a0 At its heart, Tfue\u2019s dispute centers on whether the Gamer Agreement is \u201coppressive.\u201d\u00a0 Such claims are not entirely new.\u00a0 But, Tfue\u2019s dispute is a new application to a relatively new and young industry.<\/p>\n Although the internet has been around for decades, lawsuits involving the internet are still new.\u00a0 And, lawsuits involving esports and online content creation are even newer.\u00a0 This means that the courts will be looking to analogize to more established areas of law that involve similar facts.\u00a0 In resolving Tfue\u2019s dispute, it would not be surprising to see the courts draw parallels to the laws applicable to the more traditional sports and entertainment industries.<\/p>\n In resolving Tfue\u2019s asserted claims, the courts will also likely take a look at the esports and content creator industries in general.\u00a0 In these industries, the pro video gamers and content creators are often young and unsophisticated.\u00a0 According to Tfue\u2019s lawsuit, FaZe Clan has signed a pro video gamer as young as 11 years old.\u00a0 Tfue himself was just 20 years old when he signed his Gamer Agreement.\u00a0 Many of these teenagers and young adults are not represented by attorneys.\u00a0 The players are also overly trusting and overjoyed by the fact that someone wants to pay them to play video games.<\/p>\n Many of these same issues are present for online content generators.\u00a0 Tfue\u2019s lawsuit even touches on this fact by noting that he is not simply a \u201cplayer\u201d for FaZe Clan, but that he also creates content that generates millions of views on both YouTube and Twitch.\u00a0 Even among content generators, Tfue is not the only one who feels that he was exploited.\u00a0 Anthony Padilla, one of the creators of the popular Smosh YouTube channel, released this statement<\/a> in which he briefly discusses that he felt exploited after selling Smosh for \u201czero dollars\u201d in 2011.<\/p>\n In resolving the question of whether Tfue\u2019s Gamer Contract is actually \u201coppressive,\u201d the courts will again turn back to the internet community to see what contractual terms are typical in the industry.\u00a0 The courts will also take into consideration how Tfue and FaZe Clan acted after signing the Gamer Agreement.<\/p>\n Over the last few days, an interesting issue regarding how Tfue and FaZe Clan performed the Gamer Agreement has already popped up.\u00a0 In this statement<\/a>, FaZe Clan admitted that Tfue\u2019s contract entitled FaZe Clan to collect 80% of brand deals sourced by FaZe Clan, but then denied that it ever collected any such amounts from Tfue.\u00a0 FaZe Clan also stated that it only ever made $60,000 off of Tfue under the Gamer Agreement.\u00a0 Such factors could very much be central to any rulings on Tfue\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n As discussed by many prominent content creators in their commentary to the Tfue lawsuit, it is important for anyone pursuing a career in the new and emerging e-commerce space to be represented by attorneys who are knowledgeable about these issues.\u00a0 The lawyers of The Lynch Law Group have extensive experience in the e-commerce arena and represent content creators in matters ranging from business startups to licensing agreements and negotiations.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> The California Talent Agency Act regulates the entertainment agency industry at large.\u00a0 Until 2014, Pennsylvania had a similar law, The Employment Agency Law, that regulated employment agencies in general, including sports and entertainment agencies.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Fortnite is a battle-royale-style shooter and is one of the most popular videogames in history. Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite, publicly reported that the game generated over $1.2 billion in revenue in 2018.<\/p>\n Contact Dan Lynch<\/a>, managing partner of The Lynch Law Group, at (724) 776-8000 of dlynch@archive-lynchlaw.pfgsandbox.com<\/a> for more information about Gamer Agreements, licensing, or other matters related to esports or e-commerce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A recent lawsuit filed in California is taking the internet community by storm and is sending shockwaves through the esports and online content creation industries. The lawsuit involves a pro video gamer and his team, alleging that the Gamer Agreement … Pittsburgh E-commerce and Online Gaming Attorneys<\/h4>\n