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
2022/2023 Budget Proposals Tax Overview
2022/2023 Budget Proposals - Tax Overview By: The Werksmans Tax Team INTRODUCTION Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana delivered his maiden [...]
“Death and Life are in the Tongue”* – A Case of Hate Speech
by Dakalo Singo, Director and Harold Jacobs, Director "This country is still grappling with identifying where the bounds of freedom [...]
Chambers Global Rankings 2022
Chambers Global Rankings 2022 Released Published annually since 1999, Chambers covers legal markets of 200 jurisdictions by researching firms and [...]
The Status of Business Rescue in South Africa
Business Rescue in South Africa 2022 by Eric Levenstein, Director, and Head of Insolvency, Business Rescue & Restructuring practice, and [...]
Compensation for employees who experience injuries, illness or death as a result of the Covid-19 vaccine
Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 by Jacques van Wyk, Director and Andre van Heerden, Senior [...]
Dismissal for intimidation and accusations of racism against fellow employee held to be fair and appropriate
Dismissal for intimidation and accusations of racism by Jacques van Wyk, Director and Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate Issue Whether [...]

