In a year that has seen some of rap's biggest stars embrace the wildly popular videogame Fortnite, some haven't felt the same way. Now, rapper 2 Milly has filed a lawsuit against developer Epic Games alleging misappropriation of his "Milly Rock" dance.
The New York MC (born Terrence Ferguson) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in California District Court, alleging the dance from his aforementioned 2014 song, known colloquially as "milly rocking," were lifted for purchasable in-game emote "Swipe It."
In court documents, Ferguson claims that Epic Games "should not be able to profit from Ferguson's fame and hard work by its intentional misappropriation of Ferguson's original content or likeness."
Ferguson's lawyer Carolynn Beck writes the following:
Epic has consistently sought to exploit African-American talent in particular in Fortnite by copying their dances and movements. Epic has copied the dances and movements of numerous African-American performers, including, for example, the dance from the 2004 Snoop Dogg music video, "Drop It Like It's Hot" (named the "Tidy" emote), Alfonso Ribeiro's performance of his famous "Carlton" dance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air television show (named the "Fresh" emote), the dance performed by Will Smith on the same television show (named the "Rambunctious" emote), the dance in Marlon Webb's popular "Band of the Bold" video (named the "Best Mates" emote), Donald Faison's signature dance seen on the NBC television show Scrubs (named the "Dance Moves" emote), and, most pertinent here, Terrence Ferguson's Milly Rock dance.
In May of this year, the free-to-play Fortnite topped $1 billion USD in revenue. Players are able to pay cash for custom skins, emotes and more to customize their in-game avatar, though these add-ons grant no competitive advantage.
You can size up Ferguson's moves with Fortnite's emote below.
The New York MC (born Terrence Ferguson) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in California District Court, alleging the dance from his aforementioned 2014 song, known colloquially as "milly rocking," were lifted for purchasable in-game emote "Swipe It."
In court documents, Ferguson claims that Epic Games "should not be able to profit from Ferguson's fame and hard work by its intentional misappropriation of Ferguson's original content or likeness."
Ferguson's lawyer Carolynn Beck writes the following:
Epic has consistently sought to exploit African-American talent in particular in Fortnite by copying their dances and movements. Epic has copied the dances and movements of numerous African-American performers, including, for example, the dance from the 2004 Snoop Dogg music video, "Drop It Like It's Hot" (named the "Tidy" emote), Alfonso Ribeiro's performance of his famous "Carlton" dance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air television show (named the "Fresh" emote), the dance performed by Will Smith on the same television show (named the "Rambunctious" emote), the dance in Marlon Webb's popular "Band of the Bold" video (named the "Best Mates" emote), Donald Faison's signature dance seen on the NBC television show Scrubs (named the "Dance Moves" emote), and, most pertinent here, Terrence Ferguson's Milly Rock dance.
In May of this year, the free-to-play Fortnite topped $1 billion USD in revenue. Players are able to pay cash for custom skins, emotes and more to customize their in-game avatar, though these add-ons grant no competitive advantage.
You can size up Ferguson's moves with Fortnite's emote below.
