Epic Games continues pursuing lawsuit against 14-year-old Fortnite player
Parent's move to dismiss the case met with resistance from Fortnite developer
Epic Games is pressing ahead with legal action against a 14-year-old child for allegedly cheating in Fortnite.
The defendant, known only as C.R, is accused of using cheats to "unlawfully modify" Fortnite, and creating "unauthorised derivative work".
Epic Games' filing against the 14-year-old boy also notes that he operates at least two YouTube channels where he "actively promotes, distributes, and induces others to use cheat software".
Proceedings began last year after thousands of cheaters were banned from the game.
Epic took the extra step of pursuing legal action against several cheaters for copyright infringement, including a 14-year-old child who had been banned from the game over a dozen times.
Although Epic was reportedly unaware of the defendant's age at the time, the revelation that C.R was a minor did little to halt the process. Epic Games even reportedly hired a private investigator to locate and serve notice to the defendant.
The latest filing -- courtesy of TorrentFreak -- comes several months after the boy's mother wrote a letter defending him in court.
"It is my belief that due to their lack of ability to curve cheat codes and others from modifying their game, they are using a 14-year-old child as a scapegoat to make an example of him," she said at the time.
The letter was interpreted by the judge as a motion to dismiss Epic's claims against the defendant.
In defending her son, the mother argued four key points. Firstly that Epic cannot prove that C.R modified copyrighted Fortnite game code; that Epic illegally released the name of her underage son; that Epic cannot prove it is entitled to certain damages; and finally that Epic's contract with the defendant -- established through the user agreement -- is not enforceable as no parental consent was given.
However, in the most recent filing, Epic dismantles the four key arguments in favour of dismissal and has requested that motion be denied which, could result in a default ruling for monetary damages.