Fortnite and lawsuits over appropriated dance steps go together like, well, Fortnite and fourth-graders stealing their parents’ credit cards. Unfortunately for people suing Epic over dance routines that have been incorporated into the game and sold for money, most of those suits do not go well for the plaintiff, and the same has happened once again for Kyle Hanagami. The suit against the Fortnite developers has been thrown out by a judge for failing to show enough similarities between the emote and Hanagami’s dance.
Hanagami had already copyrighted the dance routine, but the judge’s ruling specifically addresses the use of similar steps and movements, noting that while entire routines can be copyrighted, smaller portions cannot. It was thus decided that there was insufficient similarity to base the lawsuit upon, meaning that Hanagami will never see a full trial. This is hardly the first such lawsuit, of course; we’ve compiled a list below, and you can catch up on our own Andy running down the broad strokes of the issue.
There’s another Fortnite dance legal battle brewing, this one over Dancing Pumpkin Man
Amid crunch allegations and another dance lawsuit, Epic Games challenges Steam to buff developer payouts
Lawful Neutral: Dancing around Fortnite’s copyright lawsuits
Fortnite’s rad new hoverboard mode goes live as Carlton’s dance copyright claim hits a snowdrift
Epic Games files to dismiss rapper 2 Milly’s Fortnite dance lawsuit
Orange Shirt Kid joins the legal battle over Fortnite dances as Epic reintroduces glider re-deploys
Carlton is making trouble in Fortnite’s neighborhood – by suing Epic over his dance
Rapper 2 Milly files lawsuit against Epic Games over Fortnite dance emote
