In an entirely unsurprising turn of events, Fortnite developer Epic Games has been accused of stealing a dance move, this time the Pumpkin Man’s dance. This marks yet another chapter in the pantheon of dance-stealing accusations against the mega developer. The legality of Epic Games implementation of dance moves is something that has been under question since Fortnite first released. Earlier this year, many of the lawsuits against the company were dropped due to a change in copyright law.
It’s been a turbulent past year for the legal team at Epic Games. Although the developer came under fire for the supposed theft of dance moves from amateurs, it wasn’t until Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro accused the company that their indiscretions reached the national spotlight. Ribeiro alleged that Epic Games unlawfully used his signature “Carlton Dance” in their game. The developer even went so far as to call the dance move in question ‘Fresh’ which appears to be an obvious reference to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Alas, Ribeiro was unsuccessful in his lawsuit, with legal experts disputing his claim saying that he doesn’t own the rights to The Fresh Prince.
The Verge first reported news of the most recent legal battle involving a Fortnite dance move. Matthew Geiler, known more widely as the Pumpkin Man, has alleged that Epic Games used his signature look and dance moves without his permission. According to Geiler, the “Pump It It” emote and jack-o-lantern suit were so similar to those in his famous video, that Epic Games could be held liable for copyright infringement. However, Epic Games has filed a “Complaint for Declaratory Judgement of Non-Infringement.” The complaint is a 34 page document with incredibly notable takeaways. Among the myriad of differences Epic Games points to in their complaint for declaratory judgement, point number seven says:
Epic Games also points to the fact that the stems on their pumpkin head models are much longer than those on Geiler in his video. Additionally, there are no black unitards in pumpkin head Fortnite costumes, whereas Geiler’s costume is famous for its black unitard.
“… the First Amendment protects expressive works like Fortnite’s Pump It Up Emote, as Epic Games’ use is artistically relevant because it allows Fortnite players to express themselves during gameplay using a culturally-relevant reference to Halloween, as part of Fortnite’s Halloween-themed Fortnitemares event, and the use is not explicitly misleading.”
Fortnite dance move lawsuits are perhaps more indicative of the failure of the legal system than anything else. For two years now, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars have been spent arguing the legality of dance moves in a game that isn’t even about dancing. If history is any indication, Epic Games will likely be granted its claim of non-infringement and allowed to continue adding questionably inspired dance moves in the future. Although the company may soon be back in court to defend itself from the accusation that Fortnite is as addictive as cocaine.
Next: Fortnite: Epic Games Sues Beta Tester for Leaking Chapter 2 Details
Fortnite is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, PC and Mac OS.
Source: The Verge
