One of the most iconic elements of Fortnite: Battle Royale is its many emotes, many of which are directly inspired by famous songs like PSY’s Gangnam Style and Dualipa’s Say So. Of course, Epic Games must pay the relevant copyright to use the melodies and their choreography in the free video game.
Thus, the prestigious and famous choreographer Kyle Hanagami accused the company of replicating one of his dances without his consent in an emote known as “It’s Complicated”, which is why he started a legal process in April of this year .
Specifically, the lawsuit stated that Epic Games “did not credit Hanagami or seek Hanagami’s consent to use, display, reproduce, sell, or create derivative works based on the copyrighted choreography.”
Did Epic Games plagiarize a dance and use it in Fortnite?
Certainly, the video game emote looks very similar to the dance move. To provide context, the choreography in question appears in Charlie Puth’s How Long song that debuted in 2017, while the Fortnite dance appeared in 2020 as part of Chapter 2 Season 3.
Despite the similarities, and unfortunately for the American choreographer, the lawsuit did not come to fruition and was dismissed by Stephen Wilson, a district judge in the United States, on August 24.
The judge stated that the 2 works do not share enough “creative elements” to be considered that Epic Games resorted to plagiarism. Thus, the company responsible for the Battle Royale emerged victorious from the legal conflict and will not have to remove the emote or pay compensation to Kyle Hanagami.
But tell us, do you think the outcome of the case is fair? Do you think it was plagiarism? Let us read you in the comments.
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