- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 22,091
- Reaction score
- 45,383
Online
Can our legal members weigh in? Is this legit?
Can you copyright a dance?
===========================================================================
Epic Games’ Fortnite is the biggest game on the planet right now, but one of its biggest sources of revenue — the ubiquitous dance “emotes” — are now under legal threat from the pop culture icons that claim to have created them.
Emotes have become a big business in the game industry. Game studios make new ones every day, and Epic sells its Fortnite emotes for anywhere between $5 and $10, contributing substantially to the hundreds of millions in monthly revenue earned by its battle royale mega-hit...…….
Earlier this month, Ferguson followed through on threats to bring legal action against Epic with a lawsuit. Shortly after, a second lawsuit came from actor Alfonso Ribeiro, best known for portraying Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His signature dance, known colloquially as “The Carlton,” was turned into a Fortnite emote called “Fresh.”
A third lawsuit came from Russell Horning, otherwise known as “Backpack Kid,” who’s popularization of the floss dance led to the move becoming an early Fortnite emote of the same name roughly a year ago. (Horning, though he now has a sizeable social media following and aspiring rap career, is just 17 years old, so his mother is suing on his behalf.)………………...
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/20/18149869/fortnite-dance-emote-lawsuit-milly-rock-floss-carlton
Can you copyright a dance?
===========================================================================
Epic Games’ Fortnite is the biggest game on the planet right now, but one of its biggest sources of revenue — the ubiquitous dance “emotes” — are now under legal threat from the pop culture icons that claim to have created them.
Emotes have become a big business in the game industry. Game studios make new ones every day, and Epic sells its Fortnite emotes for anywhere between $5 and $10, contributing substantially to the hundreds of millions in monthly revenue earned by its battle royale mega-hit...…….
Earlier this month, Ferguson followed through on threats to bring legal action against Epic with a lawsuit. Shortly after, a second lawsuit came from actor Alfonso Ribeiro, best known for portraying Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His signature dance, known colloquially as “The Carlton,” was turned into a Fortnite emote called “Fresh.”
A third lawsuit came from Russell Horning, otherwise known as “Backpack Kid,” who’s popularization of the floss dance led to the move becoming an early Fortnite emote of the same name roughly a year ago. (Horning, though he now has a sizeable social media following and aspiring rap career, is just 17 years old, so his mother is suing on his behalf.)………………...
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/20/18149869/fortnite-dance-emote-lawsuit-milly-rock-floss-carlton