Emotes in “Fortnite: Battle Royale”
Emotes in “Fortnite: Battle Royale”
In 2018, five individuals, one of which was none other than the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro, filed lawsuits against Epic Games, the creator of one of the highest-earning video games, “Fortnite: Battle Royale”. These five cases all centered around copyright infringement claims based on digital recreations of the plaintiffs’ dance moves in Fortnight called “emotes”, celebratory dances performed to taunt another player, or to celebrate a win in the game. However, because the copyright registrations of these cases were still pending in the Copyright Office, all five cases were withdrawn after the Supreme Court’s decision in Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, held that the Copyright Office must have registered or rejected a copyright application before a copyright infringement suit is brought.
by Arya Mansour
Brantley v. Epic Games, Inc., No. 8:19-cv-00594-PWG, ECF No. 1 (D. Md. Feb. 26, 2019
Two University of Maryland basketball players, Jaylen Brantley and Jared Nickens, also sued Epic Games based on emotes in Fortnite. However, the two athletes alleged that they popularized, instead of creating, “The Running Man”, the dance moves they claimed Epic Games infringed upon. After the ruling in Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp., the attorneys for the athletes amended their complaint by removing the copyright infringement claim. Afterwards, Epic Games filed a motion to dismiss, which is still pending.
by Arya Mansour
Epic Games, Inc. v. Sick Picnic Media, LLC, No. 19-cv-11215, ECF No. 1 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 6, 2019
Last year, Epic Games received a demand letter from Mathew Geiler, owner of Sick Picnic Media, regarding Epic Games’ usage of Geiler’s character named “Dancing Pumpkin Man” performing a dance called “Pump It Up”. Epic Games preemptively filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment arguing that Gieler’s character was not protectable because Geiler did not create the attributes of the character. However, Epic Games settled the case before a judgment on the merits was rendered.
by Arya Mansour