Florida’s Stonehenge is suing Epic Games over Coral Castle

The company that owns Florida’s Stonehenge — also known as Coral Castle — is suing Fortnite developer Epic Games for using the name in its new season.

Located in Florida, Coral Castle is a rock sculpture garden said to be built by a man named Ed Leedskalnin from 1923 to 1951. It’s run as a museum now, located on the South Dixie Highway in Miami, where patrons can tour the coral rock garden. According to the museum, it’s often known as “Florida’s Stonehenge.” The museum is currently closed, according to its website, but tickets typically cost between $8 to $18.

Epic Games added a virtual Coral Castle, a stone structure that’s essentially Atlantis, in its new Fortnite season. Players can find it north of Sweaty Sands, and it’s very pretty. However, the folks who run the museum aren’t happy about it. Coral Castle filed its complaint with a Miami court on Thursday. Coral Castle, Inc. trademarked the name. But folks filing the lawsuit think Epic Games’ version has other things in common, too, like “nautical/beach motifs, castle structures, partial castle walls, and stone objects.” Also, the lawsuit claims that both the real Coral Castle and virtual Coral Castle “evoke the feeling of a centuries old mysterious place.” They said the infringement is clearly a violation of Coral Castle’s trademark.

Image: Epic Games via Polygon

Coral Castle is looking to the court for monetary damages associated with the confusion between the two, and for using the trademark without permission. Lawyers for the museum cite the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Law.

As you may have heard, Epic Games is also currently embroiled in another, larger piece of litigation. On Wednesday, Epic adjusted its payment processing system for Android and iOS players, allowing users to bypass those storefronts’ systems. In response, both Google and Apple removed Fortnite from their stores. Epic Games immediately filed two lawsuits against the companies, citing antitrust violations.

Fortnite players can still play their games on mobile devices, but they won’t be able to update the game further.