The viral Charlie XCX “Apple Dance” creator has filed a lawsuit against the popular video game developer Roblox for profiting off her copyrighted moves.
Kelley Heyer, the creator of the viral “Apple Dance,” is suing Roblox for copyright infringement after the video game developer allegedly used the dance as an emote in the game.
An emote is an in-game action used to express emotion or to simply demonstrate a character’s personality.
Charlie XCX collaborated with Roblox on the multiplayer fashion game “Dress to Impress.” The lawsuit alleges that the video game developer wanted to license the “Apple Dance” to accompany Charlie XCX’s collab.
While in negotiations with Heyer, Roblox released the emote for sale prematurely before both parties reached an agreement.
Roblox sold over 60,000 of the Apple Dance emote, and lawyers believe the company made an estimated $123,000 on the copyrighted work.
The emote shows the full dance, which Heyer owns the rights to, albeit in a buggy fashion.
@moxyplayss 😭💚HeLP this definitely need some work idk why it looks so cramped together #dresstoimpressroblox #brat @Charli XCX @Dress To Impress 🏝️ Disclaimer: this is not for the official dress to impress!💚 #dresstoimpress #rottentothecore #apple #fyp #funny ♬ Apple - Charli xcx
The lawsuit states that other companies, including Fortnite and Netflix, have licensed the “Apple Dance” and went about their business correctly, i.e., going through negotiations prior to release.
Roblox profited off of Heyer’s copyrighted works as “Roblox unjustly benefited by copying and exploiting (Heyer's) for substantial commercial gain,” the lawsuit reads.
A Roblox spokesperson told the BBC that it takes intellectual property rights “very seriously” and is committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of independent developers and creators.”
The BBC estimates that Roblox is played by 80 million people daily, with “Dress to Impress” being one of the most popular games on the platform.
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