If you are a 20- to 30-something in a large U.S. city with a sexual obsession with Barry Keoghan and a mild recreational drug habit, you were most likely engrossed in Kelley Heyer’s “Apple” dance last summer. Based on the Charli XCX song, the dance was absolutely everywhere, with fans performing it during Charli’s Brat Tour and Charli herself doing it on TikTok; it even resurfaced last week during Charli’s Coachella set, during which Kylie Jenner, Gabbriette, and model Alex Consani were all spotted doing it. And Heyer is making sure to reap the benefits of the song’s popularity — earlier this month, she sued the gaming platform Roblox for allegedly using her choreography without her permission.
According to a lawsuit obtained by the Cut, which was filed on April 11 in the Central District Court of California, Heyer posted her “Apple” dance on TikTok in June 2024 at the apex of brat summer. A few months later, she filed a copyright on August 17. Around that time, the lawsuit alleges, Roblox Corporation approached her to license the dance for use its game, but before negotiations were finalized, the platform started selling an Apple Dance “emote,” or a player avatar, without Heyer’s permission.
@charlixcx an apple a day 😉
Though Roblox pulled the “Apple” emote from the platform in November 2024, the complaint alleges that prior to that, Roblox sold 60,000 Apple Dance emotes, totaling in about $123,000 in sales, without giving Heyer any of the proceeds. “Roblox moved forward using Kelley’s IP without a signed agreement,” Miki Anzai, Heyer’s attorney, said in a statement to the Cut. “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.”
A spokesperson for Roblox told the Cut that the platform “takes the protection of intellectual property very seriously and is committed to protecting intellectual property rights of independent developers and creators.” The spokesperson added that Roblox is “confident in its position and the propriety of its dealings in this matter and looks forward to responding in court.”
This isn’t the first time a social-media creator has sued over the unauthorized use of an original dance. Original choreography has technically been protected under copyright law since 1976, when the U.S. Copyright Office updated its language to include “pantomime and choreographic works,” but the rise of TikTok dances has raised the stakes of the debate over who owns the right to specific moves.
In 2022, a California district court dismissed a complaint from celebrity choreographer Kyle Hanagami, who alleged that Epic Games, the parent company of Fortnite, had used a viral dance routine he’d choreographed for Charlie Puth without permission. Though a judge initially ruled that the dance was not protected by copyright, and that it merely consisted of a series of “poses,” an appeals court overturned that verdict in 2023, and Hanagami reached a settlement with Epic Games in 2024.
It’s also not uncommon for media platforms to incorporate viral dances into gameplay — Heyer explained in her lawsuit that she successfully licensed the “Apple” dance to platforms like Netflix and Fortnite. But as her suit demonstrates, once something goes viral to the extent that the “Apple” dance has, even a copyright might not be enough.
This story has been updated with comment from Heyer’s attorney.
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