Kelley Heyer, an actor and TikTok content material creator, has sued Roblox over the utilization and sale of her copyrighted dance to “Apple” by pop star Charli XCX — a dance that went viral on TikTok and even grew to become part of Charli XCX’s reside present. Heyer filed the lawsuit in California on April 11, alleging that she and Roblox had been in negotiations to formally license the dance in Roblox; nevertheless, Roblox launched the emote earlier than negotiations had been finalized, they usually by no means got here to move.
Roblox added the dance emote in mid-August, coinciding with a Gown to Impress replace that added every little thing Brat (Charli XCX’s summer time hit album) to the sport on Aug. 17. Heyer first posted the “Apple” dance on June 15, 2024 and submitted a copyright software for it on Aug. 30. That was after Roblox contacted her to license the dance, which got here after Charli XCX’s label contracted Roblox to get the artist in Gown to Impress. Heyer mentioned she was keen to license the dance on Aug. 12, per the lawsuit. However the dance was launched earlier than the negotiations had been finalized. Heyer mentioned within the lawsuit that Roblox has “refused to finalize a license settlement” and to compensate Heyer for her dance.
“Roblox moved ahead utilizing Kelley’s IP and not using a signed settlement,” legal professional Miki Anzai mentioned in an announcement to epicgamejourney. “Kelley is an impartial creator who ought to be compensated pretty for her work and we noticed no different possibility than to file swimsuit to show that. We stay keen and open to settle and hope to come back to a peaceable settlement.”
The “Apple” dance is not accessible on the market on Roblox — it was bought till November 2024. Heyer mentioned within the lawsuit that Roblox bought “in extra of 60,000 models of the Apple Dance emote” and earned “an estimated $123,000” in gross sales. “Because the Apple Dance emote includes solely of the Apple Dance choreography, utterly separate and distinct from the Charli XCX track, the only real ‘artist’ for functions of the emote is Ms. Heyer,” legal professionals wrote within the criticism.
Heyer’s “Apple” dance was licensed accurately in Fortnite, added in December and bought as an emote. Heyer mentioned Netflix has licensed its utilization, too. Heyer is seeking to the court docket to award her Roblox’s income on the dance, in addition to different damages. Epic Video games has been sued a number of instances previously over its utilization of fashionable or viral dances as emotes within the battle royale recreation; 5 lawsuits had been dismissed in 2019, together with one filed by Recent Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro.
One of many more moderen lawsuits, filed by choreographer Kyle Hanagami, was dismissed and appealed; the ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal and revived the argument that “decreasing choreography to ‘poses’ could be akin to decreasing music to only ‘notes,’” per the appeals court docket. Each side agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in 2024. It’s now fairly frequent for Epic Video games to license dances, like Heyer’s “Apple” dance, for inclusion in Fortnite.
Reached for remark, a Roblox spokesperson issued the next assertion to epicgamejourney:
“As a platform powered by a neighborhood of creators, Roblox takes the safety of mental property very significantly and is dedicated to defending mental property rights of impartial builders and creators to manufacturers and artists each on and off the platform. Roblox is assured in its place and the propriety of its dealings on this matter and appears ahead to responding in court docket.”
Replace: This story has been up to date to incorporate a remark from a Roblox spokesperson and Heyer’s legal professional.
