Epic Games Sued Again for ‘Fortnite Dance Moves
Epic made billions from the sale of outfits and skins that players can use to personalize their characters. These sales made Epic so rich that it donated $70 million to Ukrainian humanitarian causes after only five days. You would think that the company could afford to hire choreographers to create the game’s famous dances with all the money given.
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Epic is not the first to be in trouble for some of its choreography in popular emotes. The most famous case was when Russell Horning (popularly known as Backpack Kid) sued Epic for stealing moves from The Floss, the game’s most well-known emote. Although it is evident that the content creator (with over a million Instagram followers) had copied the dance, he did not own the rights to it and had no legal recourse.
A report from Dexerto states that Epic has been under fire for selling the It’s Complicated emoticon in Fortnite for almost one year. Kyle Hanagami (the choreographer and creator of the move) copiedrighted the dance that he uploaded to YouTube four years ago.
Hanagami will have to prove this, despite the copyright. The emote starts with a portion of Hanagami’s routine for two-three seconds. It then goes on, adding more steps. However, if Hanagami wins the case, it could be the beginning of a change in Epic’s approach to creating emotes.
Hanagami is going after Epic for unspecified legal fees and damages. If he wins, the Emote will be taken off sale.
