Another choreographer is taking legal action against Epic Games over them allegedly using a viral dance in Fortnite without permission.
Felix Burgos came up with the choreography for Rauw Alejandro’s 2024 track ‘Touching The Sky’. The following February, Fortnite released their ‘Touching The Sky’ emote as part of their Icon Series, which was available for players to buy for 500 V-bucks, but they reportedly did so without permission from the creator.
Burgos registered the ‘Touching The Sky’ choreography shortly after the music video for Rauw Alejandro’s track was released. “Epic’s brazen infringement of the Registered Choreography is undeniable,” states the lawsuit (via Rolling Stone).
The suit claims Epic “did not seek to obtain Burgos’ authorisation or consent” to use his choreography and hasn’t compensated him for its use either. “Epic made a fortune from unlawfully and unfairly misappropriating Burgos’s and other artists’ creative expression and likeness without crediting or compensating these artists. Burgos thus brings this lawsuit to prevent Fortnite from further using his Registered Choreography, and to recover the profits rightfully owed to him.”
This isn’t the first time Epic Games has been accused of ripping off viral dance moves for in-game emotes either. Rapper 2 Milly accused the company of ripping off his Milly Rock dance in 2018 and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’s Alfonso Ribeiro also sued the game creators. Last year, choreographer Kyle Hanagami took legal action against Epic over a dance he created for Charlie Puth.
“Because of the lawsuits, Epic began to approach some artists about licensing choreography. However, on further information and belief, Epic typically approaches young and/or less sophisticated artists, like those who are catapulted to fame on social media platforms like TikTok, about licensing choreography for pennies on the dollar,” Burgos’ lawyer explained in a statement. “Burgos, a sophisticated businessman and established choreographer who is aware of the value of his choreography generally and the Registered Choreography specifically, was never approached by Epic about a license.”
Earlier this year Kelley Heyer, the TikTok creator who came up with Charli XCX’s viral ‘Apple’ dance trend, took legal action against Roblox for using the choreography without her permission.
In other news, PinkPantheress has revealed that she sampled a cult Nintendo DS game for her viral Jimmy Fallon performance.