Judge tosses ex-basketball players’ ‘Fortnite’ dance lawsuit | College Sports

Brantley, of Springfield, Mass., and Nickens, of Monmouth Junction, N.J., were seeking more than $5 million in damages.

Epic Games spokesman Nick Chester declined to comment Monday on the judge’s ruling.

Celebratory dances in Fortnite are called “emotes.” While the game itself is free to play, players can purchase the “emotes” and other character customizations.

Other artists, including Brooklyn-based rapper 2 Milly and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star Alfonso Ribeiro, also have sued Epic Games over other dances depicted in the shooting game. Ribeiro dropped his lawsuit against Epic Games last year after the U.S. Copyright Office denied him a copyright for the “Carlton” dance that his character performed on the 1990s sitcom.

Nickens and Brantley appeared on DeGeneres’ talk show alongside two New Jersey high school students who were posting videos of the dance online before the two University of Maryland basketball players filmed their own version. Brantley told DeGeneres that Nickens first showed him the dance in a video on Instagram.

“We dance every day for our teammates in the locker room,” Brantley said. “We were like, ‘Hey, let’s make a video and make everybody laugh.’”

One of their dance videos has millions of views on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, their lawsuit said.