Basketball players miss shot on dance suit

A judge with U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland had this to say to two University of Maryland basketball players who sued the makers of the popular Fortnite video game over claims the company stole their “Running Man” dance: You can’t touch this.

The federal judge on Friday tossed the 2019 suit filed against Epic Games Inc. by players Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley, who claim to have invented the dance moves they had displayed on social media and performed on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and sought more than $5 million in damages, according to ABC News, reporting on the suit that claimed invasion of privacy, unfair competition and unjust enrichment.

The judge said the key question is whether plaintiffs had a claim that is “qualitatively different” than the rights protected by the Copyright Act, according to the news report. They didn’t, according to ABC News.

“And here Plaintiffs claim is based on Epic Games allegedly ‘capturing and digitally copying’ the Running Man dance to create the Fortnite (dance) that ‘allows the player’s avatars to execute the Running Man identically to Plaintiffs’ version.’” This is squarely within the rights protected by the Copyright Act,” he wrote.