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
Private companies and the new transparency provisions of the Companies Act
The Companies Act No 71 of 2008 ("Act") was amended on 1 April 2023 with the purpose of increasing corporate [...]
South African Chapter in The Banking Regulation Law Review | 14th Edition
The 2023 edition of the South African Chapter in The Banking Regulation Law Review | 14th Edition guide is out! [...]
The legal and ethical processing of healthcare information
The overall objective of the Protection of Personal Information Act No. 4 of 2013 ("POPI Act") is to promote [...]
Is the refusal of a provisional sequestration order appealable?
On 14 April 2023, the Supreme Court of Appeal ("SCA") delivered judgment in the matter of Liberty Group Limited [...]
SARS: Misrepresenting Misrepresentation
As every taxpayer knows, SARS has extremely wide powers under the various fiscal Acts to enforce and collect tax. [...]
Changes to the tax treatment of trust income awarded to foreign beneficiaries on the horizon
Currently, income that arises in a South African trust which is awarded to a foreign beneficiary during the same [...]