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2 Milly Planning On Suing Fortnite Over Use Of “Milly Rock” Dance.

The inventor of the Milly Rock dance decides its time for the video game behemoth to pay up.

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3 years ago

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Remember Chance The Rapper’s now viral tweet explaining that Fortnite should pay the artists it steals dances from &/or add music behind the dancing emotes?

Well rapper 2 Milly, the creator of the dance craze the “Milly Rock” has decided to take legal action against the Epic Game franchise, Fortnite, for illegally using his dance without his permission.

The question is, are dance moves protected under copyright?

In a statement with CBS News, 2 Milly explained that “Everybody was like ‘Yo your dance is in the game. They actually sell the particular move. It’s for purchase. That’s when I was really like ‘Oh nah, this can’t go on too long.’”

According to Forbes, “Epic Games has earned over $1 billion in sales from Fortnite since its launch in September of last year. And, as Fortnite is free to play, this means that this comes entirely from optional purchases made within the game, which include emotes.”

2 Milly isn’t the only recording artist to have their dance moves appropriated by the company either. Snoop Dogg’s famous dance from the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” Video also makes an in-game appearance as well as Bloccboy JB’s highly popularized “Shoot” dance.

Bloccboy JB’s dance was also appropriated in a recent Pizza Hut commercial.

Music in the 21st century found much success with viral-dance crazes. From Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” to Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot N****”, The Migos “Dab” and more recently Silento’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” recording artists have really been able to make their entrance in the music industry by creating dances that permeate in urban culture.

This is problematic because companies knowingly take from Hip-Hop culture to strengthen the “cool” factor relationship with their potential customers and never give payment or recognition to the original creators.

Choreography however is protected by copyright laws, but it’s complicated.

Forbes also states, “In intellectual property law, it is possible to copyright a dance, but not an individual dance move. The dance must have a series of movements that are arranged in a unique, original sequence in order to have copyright protection.”

Basically you can copyright a dance if the dance if a set of moves, not just a simple action such as pointing your finger, or if the dance is identifiable to an individual by a substantial amount of people.

It seems as though 2 Milly has a strong backing for his claim. However, with no other artists filing claims against Fortnite after making over $1 Billion Dollars this year you have to consider why they haven’t.

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Gabrielle Union Fired From “America’s Got Talent” For Speaking Up About Racism & Sexism

Gabrielle Union was the #1 talent on network TV for 2019. ‘America’s Got Talent decided not to renew her contract after being the #1 talent on the show. Why?

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2 years ago

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November 24, 2019

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Season 14 of America’s Got Talent ran from May to September of this year, crowning Kodi Lee as its winner. Terry Crews was introduced as this seasons new permanent host, as well as the addition of Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union as judges joining Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel at the judges table. The two replaced longtime judges Melanie Brown (Spice Girls) and model-host Heidi Klum.

On November 22nd multiple sources confirmed that Gabrielle Union & Julianne Hough would not be returning to the judges chair on their NBC hit show. According to reports from LoveBScott, the firing came as a result of Gabrielle Union speaking up about ‘problematic’ situations, including racism, sexism, and more.

A source from NBC told the outlet the following about Union’s reported firing:

“[Gabrielle’s] contract was not renewed after being the #1 talent on the show, NBC and network TV. She set the record for her Golden Buzzer. They only replace the women and blacks at Simon’s whim. She wouldn’t walk away from $12 million because she’s ‘busy.’ Based on weekly interactions on social media, by the time AGT finale aired Gabrielle was the #1 talent on network TV for 2019. Why not pick up someone’s option in extreme success?”

The source also alleges that the firing had nothing to do with either judge’s popularity–because both received more interactions than Howie Mandel, who still has a job.

“Social media engagement is the new measuring stick for talent and Simon isn’t on social media. Juliane and Gabrielle were both way higher ranked/engaged than Howie. The idea the network wants to ‘switch things up’ only applies to women and Black folks. Nick Cannon wasn’t crazy. He walked away from 8-figures over how [AGT] operates.”

Nick Cannon quit “America’s Got Talent” in 2017 after hosting 8 seasons. after being “threatened with termination by executives” over a joke he made about NBC on a Showtime comedy special.

“I was to be punished for a joke … My soul won’t allow me to be in business with corporations that attempt to frown on freedom of speech, censor artists, and question cultural choices. Not to get too detailed but this isn’t the first time executives have attempted to ‘put me in my place’ for so-called unruly actions,” he wrote on Facebook. “I will not stand for it. My moral principles will easily walk away from the millions of dollars they hang over my head.”

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Issa Rae Announces New Record Label, Raedio

Writer, director, producer, and now music executive.

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2 years ago

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October 22, 2019

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Issa Rae has launched a new business venture, “Raedio”, a record label in partnership with Atlantic Records.

“Music has always been an essential part of every project I do and working with emerging talent is a personal passion,” — Variety

The writer, director, producer, and now music executive took to Instagram to announce the first artist signed to Raedio, Teamarrr

Atlantic Records Chairman & COO Julie Greenwald said in a statement, “Issa Rae is a next-level, future-thinking creative force who’s been breaking down cultural barriers and conquering one field after another. She’s made music a central character in her artistic evolution, and now she’s brought all that amazing passion, inspiration, and taste to the formation of Raedio. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Issa and her team on this exciting new venture, and TeaMarrr is the perfect artist to launch with.” 

Issa Rae plans to service emerging artists and creators at the highest level. Raedio will provide music supervision for Issa Rae’s HBO show, ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ as well as other upcoming studio projects.

“Raedio allows me to continue that work within the music industry and audio entertainment space. The Atlantic Records team are innovators in terms of shifting and shaping culture. I’m excited to join forces with them to discover new artists.”⁣

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Suge Knight Signs Over Life Rights To Ray J

The founder of Death Row Records has entrusted his business handlings to Ray J while he spends time behind bars.

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2 years ago

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October 21, 2019

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According to TMZ, Suge Knight has trusted Ray J with his life rights provided that Ray J makes lucrative financial decisions on behalf of his name while he is in prison. Suge Knight was sentenced to 28 years in prison last year with credit for time already served. He ran over 2 men, killing record label owner Terry Kennedy leaving a Tam’s Burgers in Compton where Dr. Dre was filming footage for the 2015 NWA biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton’.

Ray J apparently already has plans with the new venture, reportedly shopping around new projects including documentaries about Suge Knight, Death Row, and a Tupac biopic. He potentially could even bring back Death Row Records if the right investors came along.

This is another lucrative investment for Ray J who already has successful business ventures in music, motorized scooters, headphones, and cannabis. His cannabis business negotiated a healthy $1 million deal back in August

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