Fortnite dance moves hit with another lawsuit

Epic Games has sued a new content creator, a YouTuber as well as a choreographer. Fortnite’s use of a dance move. This time, Kyle Hanagami says he has copyrighted the dance in question, which he says was copied by the “It’s Complicated” emote introduced in August 2020.

Hanagami in 2017 choreographed a dance to Charlie Puth’s “How Long,” publishing it in a video that has since drawn 35.7 million views. Hanagami’s complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court for the Central District of California, alleges that Epic stole the “hook” of his dance, and uses it at the beginning of the “It’s Complicated” emote without Hanagami’s consent.

Epic’s use of dances is not the only suit brought against it. FortniteHowever, it’s the first following a four year period of relative calm. Pierce Brainridge was forced to withdraw several of the cases it represented after a series of suit filings in 2018. But a big difference between those cases and Hanagami’s complaint is that Hanagami actually has a copyright for the dance in question.

To illustrate the point, Hanagami’s lawyers created a side-by-side video showing the dance moves they say Fornite Copy. The moves look identical. Fortnite’s unofficial wiki on Fandom.com says the dance is based in part on Hanagami’s choreography. However, dance moves are added to the emote that have not been developed or similar to Hanagami’s. The emote does not include Hanagami’s original choreography of the dance.

It is just one part of the legal struggle to hold a copyright on dance moves. Copyrights to dance moves are often complicated. This leaves a lot of creative freedom that is still permissible. Important roles also play legal and artistic concepts such as creative use, additions to choreography and other aspects. It is common for a dance work to be copied that infringes on a copyright. This does not mean you can copy just a section or a few moves.

Hanagami’s lawsuit asks for a court order preventing Fortnite from using the “It’s Complicated” dance move, unspecified statutory and compensatory damages, and legal fees.