Influencer Kelley Heyer’s lawsuit against Roblox Corporation has been “amicably resolved”, per court papers filed in the US this week. The two sides have agreed to dismiss the case, which centred around, deep breath please, an in-game emote based on the choreographer’s viral dance that is performed to Charli XCX’s song Apple.
The Apple dance, as it became known, was a huge TikTok trend in summer 2024 and has been adopted by Charli XCX herself: Heyer even performed the dance live at one of the star’s concerts. It was impossible to avoid at the time, and was subsequently incorporated into a Charli XCX-themed “Brat” update for the Roblox game Dress to Impress.
The legalities all get a little murky here. Heyer and Roblox were apparently in talks to license the dance in early August last year, but then the update containing the emote was released before any “signed agreement”, and Heyer subsequently copyrighted the dance. Her lawsuit claimed that Roblox had made around $123,000 from selling the emote between August and November 2024, and said Heyer is “an independent creator who should be compensated fairly for her work.”
Well, now she has been, although there’s no disclosure of the sum involved. The two sides released a short statement: “The parties wish each other every success in their creative pursuits and encouraging the creating [sic] pursuits of others.”
If you’ve somehow avoided the dance in question, here’s Heyer performing it on TikTok:
Heyer has previously told the BBC she enjoyed seeing others perform the dance but was “bummed out” when big brands used it without credit. Notably, Heyer reached an agreement with Fortnite in December 2024 for the game to add “the Bratty dance” emote, and at the time said “the whole Fortnite team was really wonderful and super easy to work with.”
This is one of a slew of dance and social media related lawsuits brought against large gaming platforms, with part of the appeal of Fortnite and Roblox being how they incorporate and reflect online trends. It’s been going on for a while, too, with the actor behind the Fresh Prince of Bel Air ‘Carlton Dance’ Alfonso Ribeiro suing Epic as far back as 2019, though he hit some copyright snags. Other examples of viral dance creators bringing suit against games include 2 Milly (the Milly Rock), Backpack Kid (the Floss) and Orange Shirt Kid (the Orange Justice). What a world!
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