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
NFTs and Trade Mark Infringement – Hermès International and Hermès of Paris, Inc vs Mason Rothschild
A US Court has found in favour of French Fashion House, Hermès, owner of the renowned Birkin handbag, in it's [...]
Does an employer’s decision to exclude employees from a commission scheme constitute an unfair labour practice
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Kelly Sease, Candidate Attorney In a recent case the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration [...]
Stay out of my internal disciplinary matters? Not so fast
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Anna Tchalov, Candidate Attorney In terms of the Labour Relations Act, 66 or 1995 (LRA) [...]
Fairly unlawful or lawfully unfair? Employees and their rights on termination under the LRA and contract
The South African Labour Relations act, 66 of 1995 (LRA) has been in operation and has since the date of [...]
The FAFT, trusts and transparency in South Africa
Over the past 10 years, there has been large-scale domestic and international financial fraud in South Africa. Sometimes, trusts and [...]
Budget Speech 2023/2024: Tax Overview
Budget Speech: Tax Overview By: The Werksmans Tax & Exchange Control Team Download PDF INTRODUCTION Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana [...]