Turner “Tfue” Tenney’s contract with FaZe Clan is bad, according to one of the team’s owners, Richard “Banks” Bengtson. And Tfue’s alleged refusal to sign better contracts that FaZe offered him might have major consequences for all of the content he’s created while being part of the team.
Section 4a of the Terms & Conditions of the contract that’s been released to The Blast mentions rights to intellectual property of Tfue’s creations. It says that anything Tfue creates as a service to FaZe is owned in perpetuity by the company in any shape or form, and that FaZe has the rights to do whatever it wants with that content. For content that isn’t part of the services to the organization, Tfue also gave them any and all rights to it “without any right of revocation.”
Related: Tfue reportedly wants to make his own esports organization after leaving FaZe Clan
That means any Twitch stream, VOD, and YouTube video Tfue made while being part of FaZe Clan is owned by the team, not him. Legally, the team can do anything it wants with that content, including adding more information to it and removing it from these platforms. Despite not showing the intent to do so, FaZe could legally take down all videos Tfue has published on YouTube since he joined the team or close his Twitch channel.
While such an extreme situation is unlikely, the existence of these terms in Tfue’s contract could give the player the proof he needs to back his claims of FaZe offering him an “oppressive” contract. It’s still unclear if other contracts FaZe reportedly offered Tfue also included this term.
If this contract is deemed illegal, as Tfue and his lawyers request in his lawsuit filed against FaZe Clan, these terms will be nullified. Both parties would probably need to settle a new agreement on intellectual property rights to all of Tfue’s creations, which doesn’t necessarily mean the player would be the sole owner of them.
For now, though, FaZe has full control over whatever Tfue has created and published since he joined the team.
