We’re All Just Hoping for Some Orange Justice
It seems that the company behind Fornite just can’t get a break as Epic Games is hit with yet another dance lawsuit.
Actor Alfonson Riberio, rapper 2 Milly and “The Backpack Kid” (well, his mom on his behalf) are all being represented by the same lawyer in a suit against Epic and 2K. That last one brings us to this new suit – the mother of a young boy the internet has dubbed “Orange Shirt Kid” is suing the studio over it’s inclusion of her son’s “Orange Justice” dance.
Normally we could toss this in with the other dance lawsuits – a company making money off of pop culture without credit, but there’s a bit of a twist that makes this case unique. The original video of the Orange Justice dance was actually the young man’s submission to Epic’s “BoogieDown” contest. The dance didn’t actually make the initial cut, but the Fortnite community banned together with a Change.Org petition to get it included – and so they did, much to delight of everyone.
Or well, so you’d think. In the rules for the contest, Epic did make it clear that players wouldn’t be paid if their dances were used and that Epic retains the right to use the dances for publicity. In the case of the Orange Justice dance it was never available for purchase, rather, it was given away with the free battle pass.
In the lawsuit, there is no mention of the BoogieDown contest or any of the (now deleted) tweets of Orange Shirt Kid submitting his dance or his celebration when Epic added it anyway. Originally called “The Random”, the lawsuit alleges that Orange Shirt Kid suffered “extreme cyberbullying” due to the video after he posted it in 2018. The kid’s mother is seeking “unspecified” damages.
Here’s the video of the dance, and I have to say, it puts a smile on my face. There’s nothing I like more than seeing kids doing something than enjoying themselves.
It’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening with Epic Games and the growing list of dance lawsuits they keep receiving. Fortnite dancing isn’t all bad though, as evidenced by the fact that a 6 Minute Floss by TonesBalones at Awesome Games Done Quick raised 6.5k for charity.