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
South Africa’s Information Regulator: What the 2025/26 Annual Performance Plan means for Business (as presented to the Portfolio Committee on 5 May 2026
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Regulatory “It is only the inner sanctum of a person, such as his/her [...]
Urgency misconceived: A cautionary note on process, principle and professional responsibility
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director The decision in Wheatley v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration & others (2026) 47 ILJ [...]
Digital taxes are reshaping cross-border e-commerce economics in Africa
by Tebogo Sibidla, Director Digital taxation has moved from policy debate to regulatory reality. Governments across the world are implementing [...]
A safe voice or silent risk: An attempt at reforming whistleblower protection through the Protected Disclosures Draft Bill
by Harold Jacobs, Director, Luyanda Lebepe, Senior Associate and Kian Steytler, Candidate Attorney The case of Babita Deokaran, a senior [...]
Recent Competition Tribunal Case clarifies approach to ownership conditions in South African merger approvals
by Pieter Steyn, Director In a recent case, the Competition Tribunal clarified its approach regarding the imposition of conditions for [...]
Proposed New Capital Flow Management Regulations fail to live up to expectations
by Kyle Fyfe, Director On 17 April 2026, National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published the long awaited [...]

