• Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, are getting sued

     

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    Epic Games has found itself in many lawsuits, all saying they have been stealing people's dance moves off of other social media channels and selling them through Fortnite. These dances are bought by players using V-bucks, which costs real money. Since lots of people buy lots of V-bucks, there are many musicians and viral video stars who are angry and feel like they have been "ripped off" by Epic Games.   But the law might be on Epic's side...

    Alfonso Ribeiro, star of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was one of the people who wanted some of Epic Games' money from the money they were earning from his dance. Alfonso said he was the creator of the "Carlton", a dance routine that Epic sold as a Fortnite emote-the only change was they named it "Fresh". But Alfonso's application to sue Epic has been said no to because of the copyright.

    According to the US Copyright office, Alfonso's claim to copyright the "Carlton" has been said no to because it's a so called "simple dance routine'. Dances are required to have ''a related series of movements and patterns.'' If easy movements were copyrightable, there word be lots and lots of lawsuits.

    Russel Horning, also known as The Backpack Kid, also sued Epic. Epic added the "Floss" into Fortnite without his permission. Russel claimed the viral dance as his, even though nobody knows if it really is.

    Now, another rapper has sued Fortnite. BlocBoy JB (James Baker) filled out a lawsuit against Fortnite's delveloper. Epic illegally used his "Shoot" dance in Fortnite. 

    Known as "Hype'' in Fortnite, almost everyone in the world have done the dance or have seen others do the dance. James first asked his followers on Twitter if he should sue Epic or not. He stated, "I just don't think it's fair what Epic's doing. I started the dance and made it popular through my music. Epic didn't even ask me if they could put the dance in Fornite." It is still unclear if he sued Fornite. 

    If all of these lawsuits keep up, Epic may lose Fornite!

    By Taylor Elkin