Alfonso Ribeiro of The Fresh Prince and Dancing With The Stars fame recently tried to take on Epic Games and sue the company for its use of “the Carlton dance” in Fortnite.
“The Carlton dance” is a little number created by Ribeiro for a 1991 episode of The Fresh Prince, but it quickly became synonymous with both the character of Carlton and Alfonso Ribeiro himself.
The moves appears as an emote in Epic Games’ Fortnite.
Despite Ribeiro seeking legal action against the company, it’s been revealed [via Hollywood Reporter] that he doesn’t actually have a pursuable copyright claim on his hands.
An examiner at the Copyright Office explained: “Since Mr. Ribeiro performs a choreographic work with his professional dance partner, Witney Carson, and internet sources indicate that most of the professional dancers on [Dancing With The Stars] create the choreography for their celebrity partner, we question whether the application names the correct author or authors for this work.”
The motion itself says that Ribeiro “admits to creating the alleged ‘Dance’ for the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series, but did not try to register that ‘Dance’ with the Copyright Office — presumably because he knows that he does not own the copyright,
“The copyright notice for the episode in which it first appeared … lists solely ‘National Broadcasting Company, Inc.’ Thus, Plaintiff’s copyright claims fail as his allegation that the ‘Dance’ was created for an episode owned by NBC means that he has not plausibly alleged ownership of a valid copyright.”
Ribeiro is still able to pursue legal action from this point, and the U.S. Supreme Court is currently sorting out prerequisites for copyright litigation.
Ribeiro is one of a few celebrities, including rapper 2 Milly, who’ve tried to sue Epic Games for its use of “their” dances and moves as emotes.
It’s looking more and more unlikely that anyone will be successful in their lawsuits…
On EPIC, Fortnite, and copyrighted dances
1) looks like the “Carlton Dance” copyright is not going through
2) so maybe no dances will be copyrightable
— John Koetsier (@johnkoetsier) February 15, 2019
Featured Image Credit: ABC