TikTok Dance Creators Struggle to Win Credit and Copyrights

Brian Esperon started dancing with a local dance studio as an 8-year-old growing up in Guam. It wasn’t until he returned home from college years later that videos of his performances with the company began to go viral.

In 2020, Esperon created a dance for “WAP,” the popular song from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. His dance was such a hit on the short-form video platform TikTok that Cardi B tweeted out a clip of Esperon’s performance the day after it was released. But even the singer’s shoutout wasn’t enough to ensure Esperon received the same level ...