As monumental as Epic's Fortnite is, it has its detractors. Some don't like the game, some don't like battle royale modes at all, while others are just annoyed that their dances have ended up in the game. We've heard from the likes of Fresh Prince of Belair's Alfonso Ribeiro, and rapper 2 Milly, who among others have brought legal action against Epic due to what they consider to be intellectual property theft. They made up their dances and Epic added them to Fortnite as emotes in some measure of capturing the social zeitgeist.
And now Orange Shirt Kid is suing Epic as well.
Or at least, his mom, Rachel McCumbers, is. Her son originally sent in his dance, known as "The Random," as part of an Epic Games competition to become part of the game's emote dance selection. He didn't win, but his dance ended up in the game anyway thanks to fan reaction after the contest ended. With no compensation for her son's dance being implemented in the game, McCumbers believes that that needs to be rectified.
As PCGamer points out though, that may be harder than she thinks. While the others may have a legitimate case that their dances were copied without their permission, one of the stipulations of the competition is that Epic could use any dances they wanted in the game. Indeed "Orange Kid" seemed rather excited when his dance ended up in Fortnite even when he didn't win, though his tweets announcing his joy have since been deleted. Presumably so as to not harm the case.
Then again, Orange Kid is a kid. A minor. So can he legally sign a contract? We'll let the lawyers hash this one out.
Image source: FortniteSkins
