Epic Games and Apple have been arguing in court in the US since 2020. The developer studio finds it unfair to have to give 30 percent commission per sale in the Apple App Store to Apple and at the same time not be allowed to deposit its own payment option. In the meantime, a first ruling was made in September 2021, so that Apple is no longer allowed to prevent alternative payment options in its own App Store, but can still set the commission level itself. Now Epic Games is threatened with new trouble, this time concerning the worldwide popular game Fortnite. In the new legal dispute about a virtual dance.

Are emotes copied by Epic without the permission of the creators?

The emote “It’s Complicated” is said to be an unauthorized copy of the choreography to the song How Long by Charlie Puth. Claimant Kyle Hanagami had choreographed the dance number in 2017. Already in 2018 and 2019, Epic has had to defend itself against statements of claim that revolve around emotes and were filed by 2 Milly, Alfonso Ribeiro and Orange Shirt Kid’s mom, among others. The accusation is always that the dance emotes used in Fortnite are illegal copies, as Epic does not pay royalties to the creators and does not even name the creators.

“Epic usually targets young and/or less experienced artists who have risen to fame on social media platforms like TikTok, offering to license choreography for a small amount of money. Hanagami, an experienced businessman and established choreographer who is aware of the value of his choreographies in general and registered choreographies in particular, was never approached by Epic for a license.” – Statement of Claim against Epic.

The new statement of claim states that while the “social media outcry” led to Epic reaching licensing agreements with some creators, no such offer was made to Hanagami to use its intellectual property. Licensing rights are a lucrative area for rights holders to make money and are always the subject of court cases. A lot has developed, especially in the digital field. In 2019, the US Supreme Court ruled that lawsuits over emotes can only be filed after a review by the Copyright Office. Previously, it was possible to simply file a lawsuit against Epic Games, for example, as soon as a copyright entry had been registered and the creator believed that his or her intellectual property was being used in the video game without permission.

Collection on the legal battle around Fortnite (buy now 18,99 € ):

• Epic Games is facing a lawsuit from Kyle Hanagami.
• In Fortnite, the emote “It’s Complicated” is said to be an unauthorized copy of the choreography to the song How Long by Charlie Puth. In 2017, Hanagami had choreographed this dance number.
• As of 2019, lawsuits for potentially unauthorized use of emotes may not be filed until the statement of claim has been reviewed by the Copyright Office.
• While developer Epic has already reached a licensing agreement for emotes with quite a few artists, Hanagami reportedly did not receive an offer.