Backpack Kid and Alfonso Ribeiro Among Those Suing Fortnite Over Emotes

Fortnite has been in the news lately with multiple lawsuits being filed revolving around popular in-game dances. Do any of these suits have legs?

It's no question that Epic has struck gold with Fortnite: Battle Royale. The mode that was initially added to an early-access tower-defense shooter went on to become more popular than anyone could have predicted.

It's also no secret that the Fortnite developers love memes. They added a "thank the bus driver" button not too long ago and recently came out with a moth skin with a lamp pickaxe. Fortnite's affinity for memes and references date back to the game's first-ever emote - back before there was even an in-game store.

Donald Faison, the actor who played Turk in Scrubs, was one of the early inspirations who ended up calling Fortnite out on their references. He didn't intend to take any legal action, but he did note that he wasn't paid for the emote.

While Faison was the originator of one of the only free emotes in the game, many of the other references stayed locked behind a paywall. Rapper BlocBoy JB - whose music video for "Shoot" inspired the "Hype" emote - took a stab at Fortnite for stealing his dance on Twitter.

EveryTime Somebody Does My Dance Dey Give Credit To @FortniteGame But Dey Ain’t Create Nothing But Da Game So Basically Dey Takin Money And Credit For My Shit Dats Crazy

— BlocBoy JB (@BlocBoy_JB) September 10, 2018

Although people were coming out against Fortnite dances, some high-profile players like Drake welcomed the references. While playing with Ninja, the rapper famously said he'd make a song about Fortnite if they made an emote inspired by the dance in the "Hotline Bling" video.

It wasn't until earlier this month that things started to take a turn towards legal ramifications. Rapper Terrence “2 Milly” Ferguson filed a lawsuit for the emote "Swipe It" - inspired by a motion in his "Milly Rock" video.

Soon after, Alfonso Ribeiro - the actor who played Carlton in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air joined the action, claiming that Fortnite stole his famous "Carlton dance." He was followed by the mother of the internet-famous "Backpack Kid," who was suing for the "Floss" emote.

The suits aim to stop Fortnite from using these emotes and seek damages for those who haven't been paid for their inspiration. They also note - rather accurately - that these dances are now associated with Fortnite rather than the people who actually created them. Epic Games is a massive company, and Fortnite is in the running for the biggest game of all-time.

So, do these lawsuits have any legs? Can we expect the emotes to be removed from the game? The answer is a tricky one, and deals with the nuanced laws of intellectual property.

The plaintiffs have to prove several things, here, including that their dances were wholly original and weren't part of a larger body of work. Ribeiro, for one, has already been filmed talking about his inspiration for the "Carlton Dance."

Russell Horning, the "Backpack Kid," never expressed a problem with the emote's place in the game. He even attended the Fortnite Pro-Am event at E3 and made a video judging people's performance of the "Floss" dance. In a video call with TMZ, Horning said that he doesn't have a problem with the emote, but that his mother and manager think the game has taken advantage of him.

Although these three people are taking legal action, they're far from the only inspiration Fortnite has taken for their emotes. Here's a video that contains some of the references you might have missed.

We'll wait for more news on the topic as it becomes available. Despite reports to the contrary, the emotes in question remain in the game up to this point. The ruling in these cases looks to set a precedent going forward. At what point can you copyright dance moves?

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