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
Additional obligations for designated employers under The Employment Equity Act
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director A recent bill submitted to Parliament for consideration would seek to impose potentially stringent new quotas [...]
The effect of divorce and remarriage on a Will: SA and UK perspective
by Rachel Winterbach, Candidate Attorney reviewed by Doelie Lessing, Director This article compares the legal position that applies in the [...]
The deductibility of BBBEE expenditure – Binding Class Ruling 72
by Kyle Fyfe, Senior Associatereviewed by Ernest Mazansky, Head of Tax Practice SARS has recently issued Binding Class Ruling 72 [...]
SARS to get a new stick
by Kyle Fyfe, Senior Associatereviewed by Ernest Mazansky, Head of Tax Practice Section 34 of the draft Tax Administration Laws [...]
Data breaches in South Africa post POPI…Any lessons to be learned?
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of the Data Privacy Practice; and Dale Adams, Candidate Attorney 1. During mid-August 2020, [...]
The Crossroads, When Giants Intersect Competition and Data Protection Law
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Data Protection and Privacy Practice; and Dale Adams, Candidate Attorney "…it's not always [...]

