Game Theory: Fortnite is Stealing...AGAIN!?! (The Fortnite Dance Controversy)

Matpat opens with a dramatic skit about parents sending children addicted to Fortnite to rehabilitation.

Game Theory has a track record of providing legal analysis to major game companies since 2011.

Six months prior, Matpat covered PUBG's lawsuit against Fortnite, which was dropped 10 days after his analysis.

Fortnite is facing new legal challenges despite its massive success and cultural dominance as a gaming phenomenon.

Fortnite made 318 million dollars in a single month of May and over a billion dollars by June.

• Approximately 70% of players have spent money on in-game content • Average player spending is just under 85 dollars • About 10% of purchases are for emotes

Fortnite dances have become a cultural phenomenon visible everywhere from parking lots to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

These iconic emotes are not Fortnite's original creations but rather dances lifted from movies, TV shows, and music videos.

• Groove Jam originates from Napoleon Dynamite (2004) • Default Dance comes from Scrubs (2006)

• Fresh is the Carlton Dance from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996) • Ride The Pony is based on Gangnam Style • Tidy is from Snoop Dogg's Drop It Like It's Hot

• Floss comes from Backpack Kid Russell Horning's May 2017 appearance on Saturday Night Live with Katy Perry • Hype is based on Block Boy JB's 2017 Dance the Shoot

Swipe It, a renamed version of the 2014 Milly Rock, sparked lawsuits by 2 Milly, Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton actor), and Backpack Kid against Epic Games.

Choreography could only be copyrighted as recently as 1976; before that, dance could only be protected if classified as dramatic work like ballet or musical theater.

• Requires rhythmic movements of one or more dancers' bodies in a defined sequence • Needs organized patterns into an integrated, coherent, and expressive whole • Bonus protection if it includes a story, theme, audience performance, or accompanying music or text

Works like George Balanchine's The Nutcracker must explicitly credit the original and perform moves exactly as choreographed because the dance tells a story and develops characters.

Many modern dances do not qualify as dramatic works due to their simplicity and lack of narrative.

• Default Dance is a complex series including running man, leg movements, clap, point, and crossed arms replicated one-for-one from Scrubs • Groove Jam closely follows Napoleon Dynamite's choreographed piece

• The Shoot and Milly Rock are too simplistic to constitute full choreographed routines • Ride The Pony and Twist are too social to copyright • Floss and Fresh are not definitively owned by their claimants

Backpack Kid's floss claim is weakened by evidence of earlier dancers, including Jay Stu Studios and a One Direction background dancer from 2012, with possible origins in a 2011 'Mashed Potato Man' video.

• Backpack Kid claimed he originated the dance despite earlier evidence • Alfonso Ribeiro admitted stealing the Carlton from Eddie Murphy's White Man dance and a Bruce Springsteen music video

Fortnite is largely in the clear because most dances are too simplistic, too social, or not definitively owned by claimants.

Default Dance and Groove Jam could be flagged as they are complex choreographed pieces from major media, publicly displayed, and tied to character personality.

• Destiny's copied dance moves, including Single Ladies' Ring Dance, would be affected • NBA 2K's dance moves are likely safe as they are individual moves rather than elaborate routines

While Fortnite profits from and erases the original ownership of dances from creators, often from the hip hop community, it is impossible to track back to original creators due to dance evolution over time.

These lawsuits are the first of their kind since dances became copyrightable in 1976 and will help courts define what constitutes a social dance.

Most lawsuits will likely be thrown out, but courts may require changes to the most complex dances like Default Dance and Groove Jam.

Despite the legal challenges, Fortnite will ultimately be the only one taking home profit from these dances, illustrating the reality of starving artists in the digital age.

Matpat concludes with his signature sign-off: 'But hey, that's just a theory. A Game Theory!'