previous/caebeecccccca

'Fortnite' Makers Sued for Allegedly Stealing 'Running Man' Dance Move

Home / The Law / 'Fortnite' Makers Sued for Allegedly Stealing 'Running Man' Dance Move

By TheBlast Staff on February 25, 2019 at 8:54 PM EST

The makers of "Fortnite" are once again being sued for allegedly stealing a dance move for the popular game, this time by two men who claim they popularized the "Running Man."

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Jaylen Brantley and Jared Nickens claim they made the dance move go viral and even went on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to show off the move.

!youtube-embed(https://youtu.be/ul7TZy9_fo4?t=119)

The duo claim Epic Games "capitalized on the Running Man's popularity" and sold it as an in-game purchase in "Fortnite."

They claim the company "did not credit Plaintiffs nor seek their consent to use, display, reproduce, sell, or create a derivative work based upon Plaintiffs' Running Man dance or likeness."

Article continues below advertisement

Brantley and Nickens say that Epic "made a financial fortune from unlawfully and unfairly stealing Plaintiffs' and other artists' creative expression and likeness without crediting or compensating these artists."

They are suing for damages in excess of $5,000,000.

!youtube-embed(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXL-rg07WU)

This is just the latest lawsuit against Epic over dance moves in the game.

Rapper 2 Milly filed the first suit against Epic Games for allegedly using his Milly Rock Dance and he claimed the game makers have a habit of exploiting African-American culture.

His lawsuit alleged that Epic “consistently sought to exploit African-American talent in particular in Fortnite by copying their dances and movements.”

Article continues below advertisement

He claimed "Fortnite" has copied the dance moves of Snoop Dogg from the video for “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Alfonso Ribeiro’s performance of his famous “Carlton” dance on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a dance by Will Smith from the same show, and Donald Faison’s signature dance from the NBC television show “Scrubs.”

Not long after the suit was filed, "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Alfonso Ribeirofiled his own lawsuit claiming Epic took his “Carlton Dance” and profited from it.

Article continues below advertisement