Creators have been increasingly taking legal action against Epic Games for what many of them are calling unfair and uncredited use of their dance moves as Fortnite dances.
Having raked in $3 billion in 2018, and with a particular law firm on the offensive against them, Fortnite was hit with a barrage of lawsuits at the end of last year. This has continued into 2019, with the latest lawsuit coming just days ago.
Fortnite uses these dance moves in emotes that players can unlock and use in game. These emotes are purchased with V-Bucks, which is a form of in-game currency that you can get by spending real money on Fortnite.
Let’s take a chronological look at every dance move Fortnite has been sued over.
Milly Rock
The lawsuit that started it all, rapper 2 Milly’s “Milly Rock” dance was the first instance of a dance-inspired Fortnite emote being cited in a legal complaint.
According to the suit from Terrence Ferguson, also known as 2 Milly, Fortnite’s “Swipe It” emote is identical to his hip-hop dance, popularized by a song of the same name, without his consent or to his credit.
The suit was filed on Dec. 5, 2018, by David L. Hecht of Pierce Bainbridge. Hecht told Variety in a December interview:
“This isn’t the first time that Epic Games has brazenly misappropriated the likeness of African-American talent. Our client Lenwood ‘Skip’ Hamilton is pursuing similar claims against Epic for use of his likeness in the popular ‘Cole Train’ character in the ‘Gears of War’ video game franchise. Epic cannot be allowed to continue to take what does not belong to it.”
