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
A Guide to The Johannesburg High Court – dedicated Insolvency Court Project
Published On: April 11th, 2025 by Eric Levenstein, Director and Head of Business Rescue & Insolvency, Amy Mackechnie, Senior Associate [...]
Whether non-parties to a collective agreement can refer a dispute about the interpretation and application of the collective agreement?
and Pumelela Mniki, Candidate Attorney The issue of whether non-parties to a collective agreement can declare a dispute about its [...]
Note On The Final Nedlac Report On The Labour Law Reform Process
and Anna Tchalov, Candidate Attorney and Gracie Sargood, Candidate Attorney Following negotiations between organised business, organised labour and government, the [...]
ROFR vs ROFO: Navigating Restrictions on the Transfer of Shares in Private Companies
and Emma Reid, Candidate Attorney ABSTRACT A memorandum of incorporation ("MOI") is a company's constitutional document which, amongst [...]
Navigating Section 197 in Public Service contracts: Lessons from the King Cetshwayo District Municipality case
and Mike Searle, Candidate Attorney Introduction : ISSUE In the case of King Cetshwayo District Municipality v Water and Sanitation [...]
Copycats beware, trade mark registration prevails
In January 2025 Thatchers Cider Company succeeded before the UK Court of Appeal ("CoA") against Aldi Stores Limited, the large [...]