Most of the Fortnite dance lawsuits are on pause

Five lawsuits against Fortnite developer Epic Games are on hold as the law firm behind them waits for the US Copyright Office to consider applications. All five suits — filed by Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro, Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning, the unnamed Fortnite fan known as “Orange Shirt Kid,” and rappers Terrence “2 Milly” Ferguson and James “BlocBoyJB” Baker — all claim Epic unlawfully used dances they invented as Fortnite emotes. But they’re temporarily dismissing their complaints, apparently because of a change in how courts process copyright lawsuits.In a statement earlier this week, law firm Pierce Bainbridge said it was withdrawing because of a recent Supreme Court decision that requires people to get a response from the US Copyright Office before suing over an application they’ve submitted. The earlier suits “were filed under the previous standard,” it says, and “to best conform with the law as it stands in light of the Supreme Court decision, our clients will dismiss their current lawsuits and refile them.” Before the Supreme Court decision, the firm also dismissed a similar suit by Ribeiro against Take-Two Interactive.