Rapper 2 Milly Sues Epic Games Over ‘Fortnite’ Season 5 Dance 'Swipe It'

Rapper 2 Milly is suing “Fortnite” developer Epic Games for allegedly copying his signature dance, the “Milly Rock.”

“Fortnite,” which is one of the most popular games right now, features emotes that allow players to dance in the battlefield. The feature was supposed to bring players some fun as they fight to stay alive. But 2 Milly isn’t pleased with the feature.

The rapper even claims that Epic Games infringed his rights when it blatantly copied his signature dance to form the “Swipe It” emote. The “Sleepin” hitmaker has already filed a lawsuit, and he is being represented by Pierce Bainbridge.

2 Milly filed his suit against Epic Games in the Central District Court of California earlier this week. The rapper and the law firm are accusing Epic of copyright infringement and for exploiting African American talent for profit, according to Kotaku.

The “Milly Rock” dance was introduced in “Fortnite” during the Season 5 update in July. It debuted as “Swipe It” in the game. The emote can be unlocked by players who purchased the Season 5 battle pass and reached the Tier 63 reward.

2 Milly is suing for damages and he also wants the “Swipe It” emote to be removed from the game.

“I was never compensated by Epic Games for their use of the 'Milly Rock.' 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,” 2 Milly said in a press release.

Dances were only protected under copyright law when the Copyright Act had a major revision in 1976. The law doesn’t protect individual dance steps or simple routines, but it does protect “choreographic work,” as pointed out by Variety.

The phrase specifically refers to a combination of dance steps that allows a person to create an original and fixed choreography. 2 Milly had his “Milly Rock” dance registered with the Copyright Office on Dec. 4, but having a dance registered isn’t required for copyright protection.

The law firm representing 2 Milly is also claiming that that the use of the dance in “Fortnite” is also a racial issue. The debate surrounding this was orginally brought up by Chance The Rapper on Twitter back in July. He suggested that “Fortnite” should include the original rap songs associated with the dances and pay royalties to the artists.

"I think they believe that they can railroad African American talent because they doubt that there will be any legal consequence," Hecht told Kotaku.

The lawsuit against Epic Games also alleges that the video game developer violated 2 Milly’s publicity rights under California law. This law protects an individual’s right to control how his or her likeness is being used for commercial purposes.

The lawsuit claims that the addition of the dance made it appear as though 2 Milly gave consent for his dance to be used in “Fortnite." It doesn’t stop there either. 2 Milly’s camp also claims that Epic Games digitally copied the rapper’s performances of the “Milly Rock” dance to create the “Swipe It” emote, instead of trying to recreate the dance themselves.

Kotaku noted in its report that the likeness claim may be a stretch since 2 Milly doesn’t appear in the game, but only his signature dance.