Roblox is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit centering on the viral ‘Apple Dance.’ Photo Credit: Oberon Copeland
A copyright infringement battle over dance moves? TikToker Kelley Heyer has named Roblox Corporation in a lawsuit centering on its emote for the viral “Apple Dance.”
The self-described artist and creator Heyer submitted the straightforward complaint to a California federal court, naming Roblox as the sole defendant. As laid out in the eight-page suit, the plaintiff “created and choreographed the viral Apple Dance” last summer.
Set to the Charli XCX track of the same name, the dance is said to have made its way onto TikTok in an upload from Heyer on June 15th, 2024. And at least according to the filing party, the Apple Dance took off from there; a multitude of posts and the better part of a year later, Coachella attendees did the apple last weekend.
Evidently, though, there’s more to the “Apple Dance” story than a nice bit of promotion for Charli XCX (as well as Warner Music) and an advantageous wave of exposure for Heyer, who looks to have attended the VMAs.
Per the legal text, the dance is a “work of authorship” resulting from “Heyer’s ingenuity, creativity and artistry; it is literally her brainchild.”
Roblox purportedly contacted the plaintiff “to license her viral Apple Dance as an emote.” And Heyer allegedly consented to the usage on August 12th pending “an executed agreement on the license terms.”
It probably goes without saying in light of the suit, but this executed agreement doesn’t seem to have materialized. Instead, Roblox allegedly began selling the dance emote on August 17th “while engaged in active negotiation with Heyer.”
Heyer claims to have “submitted her copyright registration application in the Apple Dance” on August 30th, before negotiations with Roblox “ground to a halt” in November, according to the action. Incidentally, November also saw Roblox cease selling the emote, the suit indicates.
While the emote was available via Roblox, it sold an astonishing 60,000 “units” to generate around $123,000, the complaint estimates.
“Notably,” the text claims, “other similar entertainment platforms, such as Fortnite and Netflix, HAVE licensed (following extensive negotiation and full execution) the Apple Dance for emote or skin release, PRIOR to commercial exploitation of such.”
Suing for copyright infringement as well as unjust enrichment, Heyer is seeking damages, a piece of Roblox’s Apple Dance profits, and more. In a statement, a Roblox spokesperson told DMN that the company is confident about “the propriety of its dealings in this matter.”
“As a platform powered by a community of creators,” the Roblox rep said to DMN, “Roblox takes the protection of intellectual property very seriously and is committed to protecting intellectual property rights of independent developers and creators to brands and artists both on and off the platform. Roblox is confident in its position and the propriety of its dealings in this matter and looks forward to responding in court.”
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