Fortnite has more than a few reasons why it stands out as one of the most well known and played battle royales today. From the colorful maps, consistent updates that change the game entirely, and heaps of crossover cosmetics Fortnite remains one of the most popular multiplayer games available to modern gamers. Another recognizable feature of the Fortnite formula is the emotes players can use to really rub salt into the wounds of their opponents. As the subject of memes all over the internet, Fortnite's emotes are in some ways as well known as the game itself.
The developers at Epic Games, however, do not always have original ideas when it comes to crafting the dance moves players can use in Fortnite. There have been official uses of famous dances from songs such as PSY's "Gangnam Style," though on occasion Epic Games has landed itself in some legal trouble for allegedly stealing dances from creators. In 2018, a slew of lawsuits were thrown at the company by dancers who believed their dances had been used illegally in Fortnite's emotes. Many of these cases against Fortnite developer Epic Games were thrown out of court, though now a new lawsuit is being filed against the company.
Choreographer Kyle Hanagami claims that Epic Games stole the dance he created for Charlie Puth's "How Long" music video back in 2017. The Fortnite emote in question, "It's Complicated," allegedly uses the hook of Hanagami's dance in its beginning. The "It's Complicated" emote was introduced into Fortnite in August of 2020, and Hanagmi believes that his dance was stolen by Epic Games. Hanagami has brought his case to the federal court for the Central District of California. So far, Hanagami's lawsuit asks that Fornite be prevented from using the "It's Complicated" emote via a court order.
While Epic Games has managed to have previous lawsuits thrown out of court before, on this occasion it seems as though Hanagami was prepared, as he has a copyright for the dance he's looking to protect. In previous cases, there was a lack of copyright around the dances Epic Games had allegedly stolen, which caused law firm Pierce Brainridge to withdraw its lawsuits against the Fortnite developer.
Dance copyright is known to be complicated, leaving wide areas for creative expression that would be considered fair use in a courtroom. However, Hanagami's lawyers have also created a side-by-side comparison video which shows the similarities between the dance to "How Long" and the "It's Complicated" emote. Showing both dances multiple times, the similarities between the two are clear. Whether this will result in the emote being removed from Fortnite, though, is an entirely different question.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.