Epic Games is back under fire for claiming copying a popular dance movement without giving its creator any credit.
The new “Freewheelin” modem, which has not yet been released in the game, has a striking resemblance to Ana Coto, the actress who went viral on TikTok in April for her “Jenny From the Block” rollerskating routine, which received 15.7 one million views.
After the leak of the new dance movement, many people were quick to point out the indisputable similarities – including Coto himself.
“Smdh #freewheelin is literally me,” Coto made a TikTok video of her original “Jenny From the Block” routine alongside Fortnite’s “Freewheelin” emote. Although she said she was ‘fluttered’ that she used her dance, she also asked the question: ‘No dance credit?’
It would be difficult for Epic Games to claim that they have never seen Coto’s video. Not only did it go viral on TikTok, but several media outlets, including BuzzFeed, Digital Trends and Refinery29, have given themselves credit for the recent resurgence of role skating.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Epic Games has used a viral dance in Fortnite without crediting the maker.
In 2019, the video game company got into a legal battle with ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ star Alfonso Ribeiro, after it introduced the ‘de Carlton’ dance into the game, although the actor eventually fell out of favor after failing to successfully moved his signature
About the same time that Ribeiro filed Epic Games, Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning also filed a lawsuit claiming that his “floss” dance was added to the game without credit or permission. (Horning, who used the same law firm as Ribeiro, also withdrew his lawsuit in March 2019 because he did not have the proper copyright to proceed.)
Makers who have made it all the way to court have not performed well. In 2019, saxophonist Leo Pellegrino prosecuted Epic Games for using his image without permission – but in April, a Pennsylvania judge ruled in favor of Epic Games, noting that the video game company had “transformed” the avatar enough so that they did not look like him.
Oddly enough, Epic Games recently went out of its way to actually credit an artist. In July, the company open credit Jalaiah Harmon – creator of the “Renegade” dance – with her own emote in the game, and even goes so far as to name the emote after the dance.
Since the “Freewheelin” emote has not yet been released, Epic Games still have time to give Ana Coto good credit. If they do not, Coto unfortunately does not need a leg to stand up, at least legally.
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The post Artist Accuses Fortnite of allegedly stealing viral rollerskating dance first appeared on In The Know.
