When you have a game as huge as Fortnite, you’re bound to attract some haters, and when your game rakes in billions of dollars, you’re bound to attract some legal battles.
Sadly, it seems Epic Games is never far from the headlines when it comes to the company’s legal woes. From being sued by various performers for “stealing” dances for the game’s Emotes, to “copying character designs,” there’s a lot that Epic has been accused of.
Right now the company is in hot water again, this time for its new saxaphone Emote, called “Phone it in” [via Eurogamer].
Unlike previous legal cases against Fortnite‘s Emotes, this one isn’t taking the copyright road, but instead accuses Epic of “outrageous and inexcusable conduct,” in relation to a likeness.
Saxophonist Leo Pellegrino is known for his crazy dance moves, some of which bear a striking resemblance to the new Fortnite Emote.
Check out this clip of him performing for reference.
Epic Games has only been previously accused of copyright infringement, so it’ll be interesting to see where this new lawsuit will end up.
Over on Twitter, fans aren’t happy with Pellegrino’s decision to take legal action against the Fortnite developer.
One angry Fortnite fan tweeted that the lawsuit is “meritless,” claiming that Pellegrino is just trying to be “a big man.”
Last year, Alfonso Ribeiro of The Fresh Prince and Dancing With The Stars fame tried to take on Epic Games and sue the company for its use of “the Carlton dance” in Fortnite.
“The Carlton dance” is a little number created by Ribeiro for a 1991 episode of The Fresh Prince, but it quickly became synonymous with both the character of Carlton and Alfonso Ribeiro himself.
It didn’t exactly go in Ribeiro’s favour though.
An examiner at the Copyright Office explained: “Since Mr. Ribeiro performs a choreographic work with his professional dance partner, Witney Carson, and internet sources indicate that most of the professional dancers on [Dancing With The Stars] create the choreography for their celebrity partner, we question whether the application names the correct author or authors for this work.”
Guess you can’t own a dance…
Featured Image Credit: Epic Games