Originality is important to the success and growth of the Fortnite Creative ecosystem. A thriving ecosystem has a wide diversity of games for users to engage with and rewards Creators for thinking outside of the box and developing original ideas. As a Creator, you can spend weeks — even months! — carefully planning and building unique experiences for Discover. This includes promotional materials and island names.
For this reason the Fortnite Island Creator Rules state in section 1.6 that Creators must design original promotional assets and not duplicate versions of someone else’s promotional materials. The Be Original rule is meant to encourage novel creation and reward creators who develop unique promotional assets.
The Creator Portal has a support feature for reporting unoriginal promotional assets. You can report the duplication of:
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Titles
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Thumbnails
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Descriptions
Titles that use Island Tags available in the publishing workflow are considered game genres. There may be game genres that are not included in the tag list such as Dungeon Crawler, Boss Fight, and more.
You cannot report a Creator for creating an island of the same game genre, using the same gameplay featured in your island or for using the same island template as you.
Learn more about creating your own original promotional materials in Promoting Your Fortnite Creative Island.
Understanding Unoriginal Promotional Assets
Unoriginal Promotional Assets include:
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Duplicating another Creator’s island’s title.
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Duplicating another Creator’s original image in a thumbnail.
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Duplicating the island description of another Creator’s island.
For example, Team Pixel Elite has a published island called Jewel Hiest LIfe, if I create an island and title it Jewel Hiest Life, I’ve created unoriginal content by duplicating the island title.
Similarity:
- There must be sufficient similarity between the submitting Creator’s assets and the reported Creator’s assets.
First to publish:
- The submitting Creator must have been the first Creator to publish the reported assets in the Fortnite ecosystem.
Fortnite-native content / assets:
- The assets (primarily the thumbnail) must not appear to have originated outside the Fortnite ecosystem (eg, the thumbnail doesn’t contain IP that is very obviously from another gaming or content ecosystem).
Unoriginal promotional asset report:
- A form to report unoriginal content through the Creator Portal.
Reporting unoriginal promotional assets:
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Only a team owner or individual Creator can submit an unoriginal promotional asset report.
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You can only report unoriginal promotional assets that are similar to your own work. You cannot create an unoriginal promotional asset report on behalf of another Creator.
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You can only report assets that are similar to metadata currently live on your island.
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You can only report unoriginal promotional assets on one island at a time. If you discover that another island of yours has had its promotional materials duplicated, you will need to make a separate unoriginal promotional assets report for each additional offense.
Submitting Creator:
- The Creator who submits an unoriginal promotional assets report.
Reported Creator:
- The Creator who is the subject of an unoriginal promotional assets report.
Confirmed unoriginal promotional asset case:
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Epic Game’s moderation team investigates the report and confirms that duplication of a Creator’s promotional materials has taken place.
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Enforcement action is taken on promotional materials the moderation team deems unoriginal.
Enforcement actions:
- When a reported Creator is found to have used another Creator’s promotional materials, those assets will be removed from their island.
Sanctions:
- Confirmed reports of unoriginal promotional assets can result in monetization bans, publishing bans, and after multiple repeat offenses, even Creator account termination.
How to Report Unoriginal Promotional Assets
Make sure to take note of the island code and all unoriginal promotional assets, as you’ll need them to submit an unoriginal promotional assets report. You must fill out the form completely to successfully lodge a complaint.
Log into your Creator Portal to begin the unoriginal promotional assets report.
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Select Support from the main menu.
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The Support page opens with three different options.
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Click the Report Unoriginal Promotional Assets button on the Report Unoriginal Promotional Assets tile.
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Select the island from which the unoriginal assets were copied in the Your Island dropdown menu. This automatically adds your island’s code to the field.
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Enter the island code of the offending island in the Island Code Using Your Promotional Assets field.
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Select all assets that you wish to report.
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Provide a brief description of how your assets were used in the offender’s island promotion.
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Click Submit Report when you’re finished. You’ll receive a confirmation email when the report has been filed.
When an unoriginal promotional assets report is submitted, a moderation ticket is created.
The submitting Creator will then receive an email informing them whether the complaint has been resolved in their favor and the unoriginal assets removed, or that no action was taken if no actionable violation of the rules was found.
To learn more about the reported creator process, refer to the Reported Creators section below.
Reporting Criteria
Following are criteria for reporting unoriginal promotional assets:
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The submitting Creator must be the first Creator to publish the reported promotional materials in the Fortnite Ecosystem.
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There must be sufficient similarity between the submitting Creator’s promotional materials and the reported Creator’s promotional materials. Promotional materials that are not an exact match must have detailed information to support the duplication claim. (See Best Practices below for more information.)
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Reported promotional materials must be Fortnite-native assets, meaning the promotional materials were created in the Fortnite Ecosystem, or for the Fortnite Ecosystem. Duplicated promotional materials for other gaming and content ecosystems should be reported using the copyright takedown request process.
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You cannot report a Creator for creating an island of the same game genre, using the same gameplay featured in your island or for using the same island template as you.
Our Trust and Safety team will compare the submitting Creator’s assets and the reported Creator’s assets side-by-side, and assess the validity of the report based on this criteria.
Best Practices
Following are recommended guidelines to help you fill out the report.
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If you discover that your work has been duplicated, search the reported Creator’s island page to see how much of your promotional material has been duplicated.
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Create a list detailing how your promotional material has been used.
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When providing a description of the duplication, stick to the facts. Do not add more information than is necessary for the report.
Reported Creators
Reported Creators are contacted through email after the moderation team has confirmed the validity of the unoriginal promotional assets report. The email details which island’s promotional materials were reported, what actions were taken, and next steps for the reported Creator (including the option to appeal the decision).
A banner appears on the island’s Release page informing the reported Creator that the promotional material for their island has been edited. In most cases, the reported Creator is given the opportunity to fix any unoriginal assets and re-submit the island for moderation.
If you are found to have used another Creator’s promotional material, those assets will be removed, and you will need to replace them with original assets and re-submit for publishing.
Unoriginal Promotional Asset Enforcement
After an island is reported for unoriginal promotional assets and moderators determine there is a case of unoriginal assets, there are a series of escalating enforcement actions that follow.
To review the type of escalations, refer to the Understanding Unoriginal Promotional Assets section.
Creators who are repeatedly reported for unoriginal promotional assets may also experience the following sanctions:
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Temporary publishing bans.
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Increased monetization bans.
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Account termination for multiple repeated offenses.
How to Handle an Unoriginal Promotional Asset Strike
An unoriginal promotional asset strike refers to the punitive actions for direct duplication of published text and images used by a Creator to advertise their island in Discover and on their island page.
Reported Creators must create new promotional materials and resubmit their island for publication after an unoriginal promotional asset strike.
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Take time to create new videos and images, and brainstorm new ways to think about and describe the island’s gameplay.
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Think about the ways your island stands out, and use the differences as inspiration for your island’s new promotional materials.
Once a reported Creator has new promotional materials:
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Go to the project’s Release page and click the Create New Release button to go through the publishing process again.
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Submit the new promotional materials and make sure not to repeat the mistakes that got flagged.
Reported Creators receive an approval message on their island’s Release page when their update is approved.
If the reported Creator believes that their island has been reported incorrectly for use of unoriginal promotional assets, they can appeal the decision by responding to the email informing them of the report. Be sure to explain your reason for appealing in your response.