Legal updates and opinions
News / News
Fortnite, Wimbeldon And Tour De France
By Donvay Wegierski, Director
Fanatic or not we will all be familiar with the above, each comprising sport in its own shape and form. Interestingly though the prize money in Epic Game’s Fortnite World Cup 2018/2019 is said to be around US$3.000.000 and tops the major sporting events* prize money being higher than that of Wimbeldon (US$2.980.000), Tour De France (US$580.000), The Indy 500 (US$2530.000), and The Masters (US$1.980.000).
Although Fornite is available to anyone in free-to-play mode a player can either earn or simply buy V-Bucks which is the sale of virtual goodies in the game including costumes, stickers and dance moves. The exact value of these sales is unknown though estimated at US$two billion annually.
With this monetisation, it is no surprise that celebrities including Alfonso Ribeiro better known as Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Brooklyn Rapper 2 Milly and Instagram’s Backpack Kid have pursued copyright infringement proceedings in relation to some of the dance moves in Fornite. This has raised the question whether you can own the copyright in dance moves. For copyright to subsist in a work, the work should be original and in a material form which in this instance could include texted choreography and video recordings so as to show where the dance originates from.
Latest News
Disruptors Beware – The Court’s Firm Stance on Abusive Business Rescue and Setting Aside Applications
by Jonathan Stockwell - Director, Karabo Kekana - Associate, Sunusha Moodley - Candidate Attorney Introduction Liquidation proceedings place companies in [...]
Labour Law Amendment and Labour Relations Amendment Bills – call for comments
by Andre van Heerden - Director On 26 February 2026, the Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth MP, published [...]
Budget Speech 2026 / 2027: Tax Overview
By: The Werksmans Tax Team Download PDF KEY TAX CHANGES INTRODUCTION On 25 February 2026, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered [...]
Service under court online: what litigants need to know
by Teresa Thomas - Candidate Attorney and reviewed by Walid Brown - Director Gone are the days when a missing [...]
Pricing the same as your competitors – unlawful or permissible?
by Paul Coetser - Director and Head of Competition and Ntombi Nzimande - Associate One often observes in the marketplace [...]
A new Trade Mark Act for Zambia
by Donvay Wegierski - Director and Dannielle Fiff - Senior Associate The Zambian Trade Marks Bill 2023 signed on 31 [...]

