A lawsuit over Fortnite using copyrighted dance moves is respawning. Pop choreographer Kyle Hanagami will continue his legal fight against Fortnite and its creator Epic Games after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a dismissal of the lawsuit on November 1, per Billboard. Hanagami is claiming that Fortnite infringed on his copyright by using his choreography to Charlie Puth’s “How Long†as an “emote†in the game, a buyable dance for a player’s avatar. (Other choreographers have dropped similar lawsuits against Fortnite.) The appeals court took issue with the lower court’s decision that Fortnite only copied poses, not the full dance moves. “Reducing choreography to ‘poses’ would be akin to reducing music to just ‘notes,’†they wrote. “Choreography is, by definition, a related series of dance movements and patterns organized into a coherent whole. The relationship between those movements and patterns, and the choreographer’s creative approach of composing and arranging them together, is what defines the work. The element of ‘poses,’ on its own, is simply not dynamic enough to capture the full range of creative expression of a choreographic work.â€
Hanagami’s attorney praised the decision, saying the case would be “extremely impactful for the rights of choreographers and other creatives in the age of short-form digital media.†But the ruling is not quite a win for Hanagami yet. Now, the case will dance its way back to the lower court ahead of a potential trial.