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
Section 11 consent: Can the regulator breathe life into a void transaction?
by Kathleen Louw, Director 1. Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 ("the MPRDA") [...]
Resign First, Complain Later? The LAC Draws the Line on Constructive Dismissal
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director Constructive dismissal is not an escape route for employees who are dissatisfied with their working environment, [...]
Kusile Pollution: SCA Orders Eskom and Regulators to Act
by Jones Antunes, Director (Reviewer), and Tashlin Ramanundh, Candidate Attorney Environmental authorisations impose strict obligations which continue throughout the life [...]
AI and gambling, the regulatory gap is growing
by Wendy Rosenberg, Director and Head of Digital Media & Electronic Communications, and Tebogo Sibidla, Director Artificial intelligence (AI) is [...]
Blocking growth? Why the NCC’s Draft Opt-Out Registry Guidelines need revisiting | You were only given 15 days to comment – what are you doing?
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Regulatory, and Boitumelo Khwene, Candidate Attorney No one defends the spam caller. According [...]
Voting rights not afforded to post-commencement creditors
by Dr. Eric Levenstein, Director and Head of Insolvency & Business Rescue, Brandon Starr, Senior Associate, and Clio Patricios, Candidate [...]

