Can someone really copyright a Red vs Blue map in Fortnite?

There’s a new lawsuit by a studio that’s trying to do that.

MM Games made a Fortnite map called Crazy Red Vs Blue. Jogo Studios made one too, Super Red Vs Blue.

You might recognize Jogo’s co-founder, a YouTuber who goes by the name, Typical Gamer.

Now MM Games is suing Jugo and typical gamer, claiming they copied the layout and gameplay of their map. “They’re asking a court to shut Jogo’s map down and award damages.

In copyright law, you can’t protect a concept, like two teams battling in red and blue bases. You can only protect your unique expression of that idea. Think specific choices: layout, item placement, or even timing or structure.

Jogo argues that MM Games is trying to copyright the concept, and gain a monopoly over the whole red vs blue genre.

Jogo points out that the concept of red vs blue games have been around since Halo, and there were literally thousands of red vs blue games before MM released theirs.

And Jogo argues that there’s nothing unique about MM’s map. It just uses Fortnite’s standard tools, like vending machines, spawn zones, timers; the stuff everyone uses.

This type of lawsuit can chill the creator economy. Even if you’re confident your map is legit, defending a lawsuit like this can cost hundreds of thousands.

Not everyone has that kind of money to fight back. But it looks like Jogo isn’t going to just roll over.

Its early in the case. But I’ll keep an eye on the lawsuit and post any interesting developments.