Sony Music Faces Lawsuit Over NSYNC ‘Bye Bye Bye’ Dance

Photo Credit: Nigel Horsley

Today in contentious music industry litigation: Sony Music is facing a lawsuit from NSYNC choreographer Darrin Henson over the “Bye Bye Bye” dance’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Henson just recently submitted the straightforward complaint to a Georgia federal court, some 27 years after being “commissioned to create” the dance behind the well-known NSYNC track.

According to the action, the group’s then-manager, Johnny Wright, set that process in motion with a phone call. And Henson, besides not signing “a work made for hire agreement prior to the creation of the” dance or the track, thereby becoming the former’s “sole owner,” never “transferred said ownership to any third party,” per the legal text.

As described in the suit, Henson subsequently monetized the dance via, among other things, his Darrin’s Dance Grooves instructional videos, which are said to have moved north of three million copies.

Fast forward to 2024, when Sony Music, “without Henson’s knowledge, consent, or involvement,” presented itself as the dance’s owner and licensed it (plus the song) for Deadpool & Wolverine.

(On top of making a splash at the box office, the film saw its depiction of Deadpool performing the “Bye Bye Bye” dance gain traction – to the tune of 25 million views on one brief YouTube video. The dance also rolled out as a Fortnite emote, again without Henson’s knowledge or consent, to boot.)

It doesn’t really need saying at this point, but the discovery didn’t sit right with the plaintiff, who “immediately put the purported licensor SME, and its known licensees on notice of his ownership.”

Additionally, Henson last year registered the choreography with the Copyright Office (PA2554184). On the opposite end of the showdown, Sony Music allegedly maintains (or at least maintained) that the dance “is not copyrightable, despite” its “own alleged registration(s) and [its] recent profit(s) from the” choreography.

In any event, Henson’s registration purportedly laid the groundwork for talks with the major; the parties are said to have “been actively conversing” since December 2025, and Sony Music is allegedly “still seeking internal approval of an amicable resolution.”

Throw in a tolling agreement that expired on March 30th, now, “out of an abundance of caution, and to reserve all rights, Henson believes it is time to proceed with his claims via this request for declaratory relief.”

Regarding the sought relief’s particulars, Henson is pushing for a court declaration deeming him “the exclusive owner of the” dance and confirming that the major lacks an interest “sufficient to confer standing…to pursue claims of ownership.”

As some will recall, this isn’t the first music-sector suit involving dance moves. It’s been about one year since TikToker Kelley Heyer sued Roblox for allegedly selling her “Apple Dance” as an in-game emote without authorization. The parties settled this past September.