Last month, rapper “2 Milly” revealed that he was mulling over legal action against Epic Games for using and monetizing his dance “Milly Rock” in its hit battle-royale game, Fortnite.
Fast-forward to today, and the rapper has revealed he has hired a lawyer and will purse legal action against the North Carolina-based company.
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For those that don’t know: while rapper 2 Milly is far from a household name, his popular dance “Milly Rock” is one of the most recognizable dances in pop culture in recent years. One of the most viral dances in recent memory, Milly Rock was adopted by not only the likes of sport stars, but by Epic Games, who tends to be all-over the latest trends in dancing, and who thus added it to Fortnite, as an emote dubbed “Swipe It.”
According to 2 Milly, Epic Games never reached out to him about adding the dance to the game, rather he found out from everyone pointing it out to him once it happened. The rapper continued
“I don’t even want to bash them for all the millions,” said 2 Milly at the time. “Know what I am saying? It’s not really like that. I just feel like I have to protect what’s mine.
“They actually sell that particular move. It’s for purchase.” That’s when I really was like … oh nah, this can’t go on too long.”
That all said, the Brooklyn rapper has revealed that he has teamed up with Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP to pursue his claims over Epic Games’ misappropriation and its use and sale of Milly Rock.
“This isn’t the first time that Epic Games has brazenly misappropriated the likeness of African-American talent,” said David L. Hecht, a partner at Pierce Bainbridge. “Our client Lenwood ‘Skip’ Hamilton is pursuing similar claims against Epic for use of his likeness in the popular ‘Cole Train’ character in the Gears of Wars video game franchise. Epic cannot be allowed to continue to take what does not belong to it.”
“I was never compensated by Epic Games for their use of the ‘Milly Rock.’ They never even asked for my permission. I am thrilled to have David Hecht and his team at Pierce Bainbridge representing me to help right this wrong,” added 2 Milly.
As it has been pointed out before, while there’s a lot of cases surrounding the copyright of music, sounds, and lyrics, there is none about choreographic works. In other words, it sounds like 2 Milly has an uphill battle. However, if he wins, he could very well set a new legal precedence for copyright of choreographic works, which would impact more than just the gaming industry.
Thanks, Business Wire.
