A rapper named 2 Milly has filed for a lawsuit Wednesday against the makers of Fortnite, alleging that they have illegally created and used a dance in their wildly popular game. 2 Milly is suing Fortnite over the use of the emote without his permission.
2 Milly alleges that his signature dance “ Milly Rock” was taken and made into a dance emote version in Fortnite Battle Royale marking it as their own by naming it “Swipe It”.
A law firm named Pierce Bainbridge who is representing 2 Milly, filed the complaint in the Central District Court of California, accusing Epic Games of among other things, copy infringement, and exploiting African American talent to profit in the game.
The Swipe It dance was added in the Battle Pass of Fortnite Battle Royale in its Season 5, which came out in July of this year. The dance which was popularized by 2Milly’s music video was named the same as “Swipe It”, and give to players in the game to purchase it for $10.
2 Milly expressed his words in an email to Kotaku saying that he felt like his dance had been stolen and that he wished Epic had approached him about using the dance before it was added to Fortnite. He is now suing the company for damages and to have the emote removed from the game.
I was never compensated by Epic Games for their Use of the “Milly Rock”, said the rapper in a press release. “They never even asked for my permission. I am thrilled to have David Hecht and his team at Pierce Bainbridge representing me to help right this wrong.”
For now it is unclear where the lawsuit will head, but if it does goes in favor of 2 Milly, it could have big consequences not just for Fortnite, which has taken other dance emotes from many artists, but other games that sell dance emotes inspired by artists all around the world.
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