Source: Epic Games / Fortnite
At one point, there was no escaping Jalaiah Harmon’s viral TikTok dance the “Renegade.” Now it’s finally has landed in the insanely popular video game Fortnite.
Fortnite announced via Twitter that the “Renegade” dance created by Harmon for K.Camp’s hit song “Lottery (Renegade)” is finally an emote in the game. Harmon’s creation quickly became one of TikTok’s most popular dances and was performed by celebrities and the social media platform’s biggest influencers.
In a tweet sharing a video of a character performing the dance, Epic Games announced the emote is available purchase via the in-game store while giving Harmon her credit for her dance moves.
Now keep in mind this is a first for Epic Games who has been called out many times for jacking dancing moves, putting them in the game, and calling them by another name. Epic Games did not reveal if Harmon is getting compensated for the “Renegade” being in Fortnite, but many quickly pointed out she should be paid.
https://twitter.com/Kofie/status/1284292051706814464?s=20
Epic Games going out of its way to credit Jalaih is a first for the company. Rappers 2 Milly, BlocBoy JB, and actor Alfonso Ribeiro have sued the game company for jacking their dance moves and selling them as emotes under different names. Epic Games has asked the court to toss 2 Milly’s suit, and Ribeiro’s lawsuit hit a snag when the copyright office said nah to him copyrighting the “Carlton Dance.”
Just recently, former Maryland men’s basketball players Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley saw their Fortnite lawsuit tossed by U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm. The judge ruled “that the Copyright Act preempts claims that Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley filed in February 2019 against Epic Games Inc., creator of the wildly popular online shooting game.”
Nickens, Brentley, and Ribeiro’s cases prove how difficult it is to sue Fortnite for using the dance moves being that they cannot be copyright or trademark. We just hope Fortnite and Epic Games did right by Jalaiah Harmon and broke her off with some of that coin. In 2019 alone, Fortnite brought in $1.9 billion in revenue.
Photo: Epic Games / Fortnite
