Charli XCX Apple dance lawsuit: Can you copyright a dance move?
Kelley Heyer created the Apple dance and it went viral.
TikTok is full of people doing the choreography to Charlie XCX’s Apple dance - as well as many other dances. But can you get in trouble for copying someone’s routine online? Well, not if you’re doing it for fun on your page, but potentially yes if you’re a company using it for profit without the artist's permission.
Copyright law can be super confusing, so we sat down with Tony Iliakostas to demystify it. Tony - also known as @theipprofessor TikTok - is a professor in entertainment and Intellectual Property Law at New York Law School.
Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld
Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6
Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Mora Morrison and William Lee Adams
Editor: Verity Wilde
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Mon 8 Sep 2025 17:50GMTÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service News Internet
- Tue 9 Sep 2025 02:50GMTÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
Podcast
-
![]()
What in the World
Helping you make sense of what’s happening in your world.
