A WORLD FAMOUS choreographer is suing the creator of Fortnite for allegedly stealing his dance moves.
Accordingly NBC NewsKyle Hanagami, 35, has accused US gaming giant Epic Games of lifting his work to use as a Fortnite emote.
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Emotes are dance moves or other actions that characters can perform in-game. Players can purchase them from Epic’s online store for up to $10.
Hanagami, who has worked with megastars like Britney Spears and Justin Bieber, has accused Epic of ripping off his proprietary routine for the It’s Complicated emote.
He claims the item uses movements he performed during a 2017 routine to Charlie Puth’s pop song “How Long.”
The lawsuit, filed last week, states that Epic “has not credited Hanagami or obtained its consent to use, display, reproduce, sell, or create derivative works based on the registered choreography.”
It is alleged that the company unlawfully profited from the choreographer’s work by selling his work in his shop.
The suit is asking for the emote to be removed from Fortnite and seeking damages.
Hanagami’s attorney, David Hecht, posted a direct comparison of Hanagami’s original video and the “It’s Complicated” dance moves on YouTube.
It shows that the choreography between the two is almost identical.
“Your offense could not be more blatant,” said Hecht.
Epic did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s not the first time Epic has faced a lawsuit for stealing the dance moves featured in its billion-dollar game.
In 2018, dancer and influencer Russell Horning, aka The Backpack Kid, sued Epic for using the Floss dance in an emote.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro sued the publisher over an emote that resembled the show’s famous Carlton dance.
The company was also sued by rapper 2 Milly that year for allegedly mimicking his Milly Rock move.
All three cases were later dropped after Epic successfully argued that none of the plaintiffs owned the copyright to the dances.
However, Hanagmi’s case is different as he claims to own the official copyright before suing Epic for infringement.
The company last year began crediting creators and paying them directly to use their viral dance moves following community backlash.
However, some choreographers such as Hanagami have continued to accuse Fortnite of taking on their work without permission or proper compensation.
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https://www.thesun.ie/tech/8622141/fortnite-dance-banned-game-maker-accused-stealing/ The Fortnite dance could be BANNED after the game maker was accused of stealing it