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
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 [...]
The algorithm will see you now: Competition Regulators turn to AI to catch bid-riggers
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Regulatory, and Boitumelo Khwene, Candidate Attorney For decades, the detection of cartels has [...]
Fixing the aftermarket: What the Competition Commission’s new Repair Guidelines mean
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Regulatory If your business manufactures, distributes or repairs phones, appliances, medical devices or [...]
The Porsche that got away in business rescue
by Eric Levenstein, Director and Head of Insolvency & Business Rescue, Amy Mackechnie, Senior Associate, and Clio Patricios, Candidate Attorney [...]
Expressing Our Heritage Through Access to Justice
by Dakalo Singo, Director and Head of Pro Bono The Ties that Bind Us As South Africa commemorates Heritage Month [...]

