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
COVID-19 and the ruling party’s policy on the NHI
by Neil Kirby, Director and Head of the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice and Zamathiyane Mthiyane, Senior Associate The COVID-19 virus [...]
Can business rescue minimise the effects of COVID-19 on your business?
by Walid Brown, Director and Elzaan Haynes, Candidate Attorney Business Rescue is aimed at creating a culture of corporate rescue [...]
Exemption of managers of collective investment schemes from certain requirements relating to the administration of portfolios
by Hilah Laskov, Senior Associate and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney Reviewed by Shayne Krige, Director and head of the Investment Funds & [...]
Urgent update: directions regarding e-commerce sales during Alert Level 4 of the COVID-19 national state of disaster
by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney On 14 May 2020 the [...]
Could accelerating the development and construction of renewable energy projects assist in rebuilding the economy?
by Nozipho Bhengu, Director and Tsebo Masia, Candidate Attorney 1.1 On 13 May 2020, the President of South Africa addressed [...]
Urgent update: directions issued regarding the sale of clothing, footwear and bedding during Alert Level 4
by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney On 12 May 2020 the [...]

