Artists forced to temporarily drop Fortnite dance lawsuits following Supreme Court ruling
"We will continue to vigorously fight for our clients' rights."
In a blow to the artists suing Epic Games for using their dance routines in Fortnite, the US Supreme Court has ruled that plaintiffs suing for copyright infringement cannot pursue legal recourse if their work has not been registered with the US Copyright Office.
The actor best known for playing Carlton in the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Alfonso Ribeiro, lodged a complaint against Epic Games along with 2 Milly, Backpack Kid, and Orange Shirt Kid.
Interestingly, Ribeiro was recently refused copyright of the Carlton dance when the US Copyright Office said it "must refuse registration because the work submitted for registration is a simple dance routine".
Further to the ruling of Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC (thanks, PCGN), according to The Hollywood Reporter Ribeiro, 2 Milly, Orange Shirt Kid and The Backpack Kid have now all voluntarily dropped their lawsuits. However, the law firm that represents them all has said it was a "purely procedural" matter and that all suits will be re-filed once the plaintiffs have completed their Copyright Office registrations.
"We will continue to vigorously fight for our clients' rights against those who wrongly take their creations without permission and without compensation," attorney David Hecht told THR.
