Choreographer JaQuel Knight Helps Black TikTokers Copyright Their Dance Moves
A solution is on the way to protect the creative rights of Black TikTokers who post original choreographed dance moves on the platform only to have them stolen by others who go on to find acclaim and riches. These others who copy rarely credit, let alone compensate the originators.
JaQuel Knight, who has choreographed Beyoncé and other superstars, teamed up with Logitech to help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to copyright their choreography and to monetize their creations.
“I am so thrilled to announce this collaboration with The JaQuel Knight Foundation and Logitech, a remarkable step in our goal toward creating a system of protection for young creators,” Knight said in a statement.
Knight continued: “The JK Foundation was ultimately started to provide a place of support for dancers (during an extremely fragile time in the pandemic, nonetheless), and to put the power back in the artists’ hands - not just for myself, but for the next JaQuel Knight. For all of the little boys and girls who look like me.”
In March, Addison Rae set off an uprising on Black TikTok when she performed several TikTok dances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon but failed to credit the original Black choreographers.
Rae, one of TikTok’s biggest stars, was supposedly “teaching” Fallon the dance moves.
The theft didn’t go unnoticed. Some social media users posted the names of the originators.
Others shared videos of the creators to show the right way to perform the dance moves.
According to the statement, it is “complex and challenging” to copyright choreography. the U.S. Copyright Office receives fewer than 20 choreographic work applications each year compared to more than 500,000 for dramatic works.
