Remember, Kelley Heyer, the creator of the Charli xcx apple dance? She sued Roblox, claiming that Roblox sold an emote of her copyrighted dance without her permission, and it made $120k on it.
‼️ Not so says Roblox!
1️⃣ First, Roblox claims that they actually had an agreement.
Any guesses on how much she was going to get paid?
💵 Roblox says they agreed to license the dance for $5,000. Kelley's agent then countered at $7,500. Roblox agreed, and said it would draft up a formal license agreement.
🕺 Roblox then released the emote the next day, based on its understanding that the parties had an agreement.
🧾 And Roblox is bringing receipts! They attach the emails with Kelley that they say support its version of events.
❓ But, you may ask, they didn't have a formal, license agreement. No contract, no deal, right? Wrong!
🧑⚖️ Roblox cites a bunch of cases explaining that, under similar circumstances, email agreements like this are enforceable.
☢️ But, there's something even worse for Kelley.
2️⃣ Roblox's second argument.
Kelley says that she has the registered copyright for the apple dance. Registering your copyright is required before bringing a copyright lawsuit.
But Roblox says it searched the government's copyright filings, and there is no record that Kelley registered the copyright. This is likely a kill shot for the lawsuit.
Meaning, end of story. Kelley loses. 🔚
It'll be awhile before a judge rules on this, and Kelley will have a chance to give her version of events.
So, what's going on here?
A big bad corporation exploiting its content creator?
Or a greedy content creator trying to get a second bite at the apple? (Bad pun intended).
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