*Epic Games is being sued by Brooklyn rapper 2 Milly over its alleged misappropriation, use, and sale of his “Milly Rock” dance in its hit game “Fortnite.” He also claims the game has consistently exploits African-American culture.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Milly (real name Terrence Ferguson) claims he popularized the dance in 2014 with the release of his song, “Milly Rock.”
Ferguson claims that Epic Games “capitalized on the Milly Rock’s popularity” by selling the dance to players to use to customize their characters in the popular battle royale game.
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Feds Indict Cops Who Beat Latino Teens and Said ‘Welcome to the white man’s world’ [WATCH]
“Although identical to the dance created, popularized, and demonstrated by Ferguson,” he claims, “Epic did not credit Ferguson nor seek his consent to use, display, reproduce, sell, or create a derivative work based upon Ferguson’s Milly Rock dance or likeness.”
The rapper believes Epic “should not be able to profit from Ferguson’s fame and hard work by its intentional misappropriation of Ferguson’s original content or likeness.”
The lawsuit states the game “consistently sought to exploit African-American talent in particular in Fortnite by copying their dances and movements.”
Fortnite is accused of copying the dance moves of Snoop Dogg, Alfonso Ribeiro’s famous “Carlton” dance on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a dance by Will Smith from the same show, and Donald Faison’s signature dance from the NBC television show “Scrubs” — The Blast report states.
They claim “Epic uses the Milly Rock, and other dances, to create the false impression that Epic started these dances and crazes or that the artist who created them is endorsing the game.”
2 Milly says the company has “made a fortune” using the Milly Rock Dance without his permission. He is suing for copyright infringement and seeking unspecified damages.
His attorney David L. Hecht of Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP says his firm is, “proud to stand up for African-American creatives whose expression and likenesses have misappropriated. Epic is enjoying record profits off of downloadable content in Fortnite, yet has failed to pay or even ask permission to use artists’ intellectual property and likenesses over many of its popular emote dances.”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
