Judge Dismisses Former Maryland Basketball Players’ Lawsuit Against ‘Fortnite’

There have been many different dance crazes in recent years. Dances like the Dougie, Gangnam Style, Flossing, the Whip and Nae Nae and the Running Man Challenge, just to name a few. It is that last dance that was in the center of a lawsuit against Fortnite. 

Two University of Maryland men’s basketball players sued the popular battle royale game for stealing their dance, the running man, and putting it in the game. The two players, Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley, sued Fortnite back in February 2019 for misappropriating their identities by digitally copying the dance they made popular on social media into the game.

The judge said that Fortnite and Epic Games were in the right to copy the dance. “And here Plaintiffs claim is based on Epic Games allegedly ‘capturing and digitally copying’ the Running Man dance to create the Fortnite emote that ‘allows the player’s avatars to execute the Running Man identically to Plaintiffs’ version. This is squarely within the rights protected by the Copyright Act.”

Numerous other stars have sued the company for copying their various dances into the game, but to no avail. It is unlikely that Nickens and Brantley will appeal the ruling – according to their attorneys as they are unable to afford the costs of an appeal.