Orange Shirt Kid made his way into Fortnite when his “Orange Justice” dance was received so well that Epic Games added it as a free emote, but the Fortnite fan’s mother is now seeking a different type of justice as she files suit against Epic Games.
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Variety reported that Orange Shirt Kid’s mom is the latest in a line of people taking legal action against Epic Games for the alleged misappropriation of dance moves. In the lawsuit, the mother appears to be seeking unspecified damages with the suit referring to the dance as “the Random” instead of “Orange Justice” as it’s named in-game. It’s true that Orange Shirt Kid originally dubbed his dance “the Random” when he submitted his dance to Epic Games for the Boogiedown contest, a reuploaded version of that video seen above.
But Orange Shirt Kid’s case stands out from the rest because of the Boogiedown contest. The whole purpose of that event was to have players submit their best dances with the winner having their dance turned into a real, in-game emote. Fortnite players rallied behind Orange Shirt Kid when the fan’s dance didn’t win, so much so that Epic Games decided to add the “Orange Justice” dance as a free emote assuming players unlocked it through the Battle Pass. The rules of the Boogiedown contest explicitly stated contestants wouldn’t be paid for their submissions, and Orange Shirt Kid’s dance was added to the free Battle Pass from Season 4 which means that nobody paid anything for it.
The lawsuit makes no mention of this content though, according to Variety. In the suit, it claims that “the Random” became popular in early 2018 when the child made a video of himself performing the moves. Tweets where Orange Shirt Kid submitted his dance to Epic Games have also since been deleted. The mom’s lawsuit also claimed people don’t refer to the popular dance as “the Random” and instead calls it “Orange Justice,” the name Epic Games gave to it when it was added in Season 4. Orange Shirt Kid naming the dance was just a small part of the video though, so even though he did technically give it a name, it’s not a stretch to imagine people just skipped over that part and his supporters instead followed Epic Games’ lead in calling it the much catchier “Orange Justice.”
Orange Shirt Kid’s mom’s lawsuit follows legal actions from several other parties including rapper 2 Milly, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro, and Instagram personality Backpack Kid.
