Another Fortnite emote lawsuit bites the dust, as choreographer Kyle Hanagami loses his attempt to sue Epic Games for allegedly using one of his dances for the “It’s Complicated” emote.
Hanagami was
suing Epic
for copyright infringement, claiming that Epic used his dance moves for an emote without his permission.
To be fair to Hanagami, the moves are nearly identical. It’s easy to see why he feels that Epic are using his dance for an emote.
Fortnite Infringement of Kyle Hanagami Choreography
Despite the side-by-side comparison, Epic argued that dance moves can’t be, on their own, copyrighted material – the same as short phrases can’t be protected by copyright law.
It would seem that the courts agreed with Epic, dismissing Hanagami’s lawsuit.
This isn’t the first Fortnite emote lawsuit we’ve seen – with “The Backpack Kid” and Alfonso Ribeiro making headlines for suing Epic over the “Floss” and “Fresh” emotes. Both of these were dropped voluntarily.
This might not be the last emote lawsuit we see for Epic Games, but we’d be surprised to see a successful one.
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