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 stay present. Heyer filed the lawsuit in California on April 11, alleging that she and Roblox have been in negotiations to formally license the dance in Roblox; nonetheless, Roblox launched the emote earlier than negotiations have been finalized, and so they by no means got here to go.
Roblox added the dance emote in mid-August, coinciding with a Costume to Impress replace that added every thing Brat (Charli XCX’s summer season hit album) to the sport on Aug. 17. Heyer first posted the “Apple” dance on June 15, 2024 and submitted a copyright utility 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 Costume to Impress. Heyer stated she was prepared to license the dance on Aug. 12, per the lawsuit. However the dance was launched earlier than the negotiations have been finalized. Heyer stated 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 with out a signed settlement,” legal professional Miki Anzai stated in an announcement to Polygon. “Kelley is an impartial creator who needs to be compensated pretty for her work and we noticed no different possibility than to file go well with to show that. We stay prepared and open to settle and hope to return to a peaceable settlement.”
The “Apple” dance is not out there on the market on Roblox — it was bought till November 2024. Heyer stated within the lawsuit that Roblox bought “in extra of 60,000 items of the Apple Dance emote” and earned “an estimated $123,000” in gross sales. “Because the Apple Dance emote contains solely of the Apple Dance choreography, fully separate and distinct from the Charli XCX music, the only ‘artist’ for functions of the emote is Ms. Heyer,” legal professionals wrote within the grievance.
Heyer’s “Apple” dance was licensed accurately in Fortnite, added in December and bought as an emote. Heyer stated Netflix has licensed its utilization, too. Heyer is trying to the courtroom to award her Roblox’s earnings on the dance, in addition to different damages. Epic Video games has been sued a number of instances prior to now over its utilization of in style or viral dances as emotes within the battle royale recreation; 5 lawsuits have been dismissed in 2019, together with one filed by Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro.
One of many newer lawsuits, filed by choreographer Kyle Hanagami, was dismissed and appealed; the ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal and revived the argument that “lowering choreography to ‘poses’ could be akin to lowering music to only ‘notes,’” per the appeals courtroom. Either 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 Polygon:
“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 courtroom.”
Replace: This story has been up to date to incorporate a remark from a Roblox spokesperson and Heyer’s legal professional.
