Two basketball players sued Epic Games, but they were far from the first.
Ex-basketball players from the University of Maryland Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley have filed a class action lawsuit against Epic Games. They intend to sue the creators of Fortnite for $20 million plus costs for using their Running Man Challenge dance.
According to the athletes, the gaming company illegally appropriated a dance from a viral video that Nickens and Brantley distributed in 2016. Now they are sure that the dance will no longer be associated with them — only with Fortnite, and they demand to compensate them for moral harm. In parallel, they accused Epic Games of trying to “cash in on African-American culture,” writes Gamesindustry.biz .
Interestingly, Nickens and Brantley may not be the authors of the dance. They can be Kevin Vincent and Jeremiah Hall, New Jersey High School students. Together with them, the basketball players performed the Running Man Challenge on the air of the American “Ellen DeGeneres Show”. The names of Vincent and Hall do not appear in the statement of claim.
Nevertheless, Nikens and Brantley expect to receive the requested compensation. According to them, the studio constantly steals other people’s dance moves from popular videos in order to insert them into the game and make a profit.
Both basketball players are far from the first to sue Epic Games for this reason.
2 Milly
In December last year, rapper 2 Milly announced the violation of his copyrights by Epic Games studio. He decided to defend his Milly Rock dance in court, which, in his opinion, turned into a Swipe It emotion from Fortnite.
Epic Games, of course, did not agree with his arguments. The company’s lawyers said that no one can own individual dance moves. Because of this, by the way, the next plaintiff has already failed his attempt to sue the money.
Alfonso Ribeiro
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro (Alfonso Ribeiro) went the same way as 2 Milly: to court. He filed a lawsuit because of the dance movement, which he first showed in the TV series “The Prince of Beverly Hills”. It coincides with the Fresh emotion.
It is unknown how the case would have ended if the US Copyright Office had officially registered this movement. However, Ribeiro was refused, because one movement is not yet a “choreographic work”.
The firm representing Ribeiro has already stated that the lawsuit should be discontinued. Otherwise, the lawyers of Epic Games and Take-Two will easily ruin the case.
Backpack Kid
17-year-old Russell Horning, known under the pseudonym Backpack Kid, is suing Epic Games through his mother and manager. His dance first gained popularity on Instagram, and then became a cult after the Backpack Kid introduced him on the same stage with singer Katy Perry.
Later, the dance appeared in Fortnite in the form of The Floss emotion. And before Horning managed to secure it for himself. Nevertheless, the dancer’s mother intends to sue Epic Games for an unnamed amount. It’s funny that the Backpack Kid himself shows minimal interest in what is happening.
Backpack Kid
Orange Shirt Kid
For Orange Shirt Kid, the creator of another dance for Fortnite, mom also stood up in court. But this case differs from the previous ones in that Orange Shirt Kid originally conceived his dance as an emotion for his favorite game.
In the spring of 2018, he participated in the Epic Games competition. And although he didn’t win, many Fortnite fans liked his dance. With the help of a petition, they ensured that the Orange Justice emotion appeared in the game.
Nevertheless, the boy’s mother, Rachel McCumbers, sued over copyright. She stated that the studio has no right to earn money from her son’s dance, which, among other things, has a different name — Random.
As indicated in the Mccambers lawsuit, because of the contest, the boy was bullied on social networks. He was forced to temporarily delete his accounts.
However, Epic Games indicated from the very beginning that even the winners of the contest would not receive a reward for their dancing. In addition, as the studio’s lawyers noted, she would not have been able to make money on Orange Justice emotions: she came complete with a free battle pass.
* * *
It is easy to assume that none of the plaintiffs will be able to receive compensation from the authors of Fortnite. In all cases, the dance movements were not a complete choreographic work. Plus Epic Games insists that it can’t cash in on someone else’s intellectual property. After all, Fortnite is a free-play game.
Let’s add that almost all the applicants of “dance lawsuits” against Epic Games are represented by the same law firm — Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht.
Also on the topic: