Kelley Heyer, an actor and TikTok content creator, has sued Roblox over the usage and sale of her copyrighted dance to “Apple” by pop star Charli XCX — a dance that went viral on TikTok and even became a part of Charli XCX’s live show. Heyer filed the lawsuit in California on April 11, alleging that she and Roblox were in negotiations to officially license the dance in Roblox; however, Roblox released the emote before negotiations were finalized, and they never came to pass.
Roblox added the dance emote in mid-August, coinciding with a Dress to Impress update that added everything Brat (Charli XCX’s summer hit album) to the game on Aug. 17. Heyer first posted the “Apple” dance on June 15, 2024 and submitted a copyright application for it on Aug. 30. That was after Roblox contacted her to license the dance, which came after Charli XCX’s label contracted Roblox to get the artist in Dress to Impress. Heyer said she was willing to license the dance on Aug. 12, per the lawsuit. But the dance was released before the negotiations were finalized. Heyer said in the lawsuit that Roblox has “refused to finalize a license agreement” and to compensate Heyer for her dance.
“Roblox moved forward using Kelley’s IP without a signed agreement,” attorney Miki Anzai said in a statement to Polygon. “Kelley is an independent creator who should be compensated fairly for her work and we saw no other option than to file suit to prove that. We remain willing and open to settle and hope to come to a peaceful agreement.”
The “Apple” dance is no longer available for sale on Roblox — it was sold until November 2024. Heyer said in the lawsuit that Roblox sold “in excess of 60,000 units of the Apple Dance emote” and earned “an estimated $123,000” in sales. “As the Apple Dance emote comprises solely of the Apple Dance choreography, completely separate and distinct from the Charli XCX song, the sole ‘artist’ for purposes of the emote is Ms. Heyer,” lawyers wrote in the complaint.
Heyer’s “Apple” dance was licensed correctly in Fortnite, added in December and sold as an emote. Heyer said Netflix has licensed its usage, too. Heyer is looking to the court to award her Roblox’s profits on the dance, as well as other damages. Epic Games has been sued several times in the past over its usage of popular or viral dances as emotes in the battle royale game; five lawsuits were dismissed in 2019, including one filed by Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro.
One of the more recent lawsuits, filed by choreographer Kyle Hanagami, was dismissed and appealed; the 9th Circuit reversed the dismissal and revived the argument that “reducing choreography to ‘poses’ would be akin to reducing music to just ‘notes,’” per the appeals court. Both sides agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in 2024. It’s now quite common for Epic Games to license dances, like Heyer’s “Apple” dance, for inclusion in Fortnite.
Reached for comment, a Roblox spokesperson issued the following statement to Polygon:
“As a platform powered by a community of creators, 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.”
Update: This story has been updated to include a comment from a Roblox spokesperson and Heyer’s attorney.
