Let us pretend for a moment that you're a judge in a court of law.
Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro tells you that he is suing the makers of hit video game Fortnite for essentially stealing his likeness and intellectual property, because one of the downloadable content packages includes the ability to have your character do the infamous Carlton Dance.
Here is Ribeiro's real-life version of the dance:
Clip via CridironTMZ reports that Ribeiro is currently in the process of copyrighting the dance move, with Ribeiro's lawyer telling the outlet that "It is widely recognised that Mr. Ribeiro’s likeness and intellectual property have been misappropriated by Epic Games in the most popular video game currently in the world, Fortnite."
And here is the version in Fortnite, which developers Epic titled as 'Fresh':
Clip via Fortnite Guides
Riberio's lawyer continues: "Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like ‘Fresh.’ Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property."
And yet this isn't even the only video game that has... "paid homage"... to the Carlton's dance, as developers 2K (who Ribeiro is also suing) used a very similar dance for their game, NBA 2k16.
Clip via BallerVisions
So what do you think? Should entire dance moves be capable of being property? Should Los Del Rio lawyer up if they catch Crash Bandicoot doing the Macarena?
At the time of writing, Fortnite developers Epic told press that "We do not comment on ongoing litigation."
