*By Chloe Aiello*
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro's case against Epic Games for its use of "the Carlton" dance in "Fortnite" might come down to a jury's sympathy, rather than copyright technicalities, intellectual property lawyer Gaston Kroub told Cheddar on Tuesday.
"I think it's a mistake to only focus on the copyright issues, because you do have this idea where you have this right of publicity under California state law ... Could a sympathetic jury decide that these \[artists\] deserve something from 'Fortnite'? That's something that remains to be seen," said Kroub, a partner at Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov.
Ribeiro, who rose to fame playing Carlton on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," is suing Epic and Take-Two Interactive, the maker of "NBA 2K." Both use "the Carlton" step that Ribeiro made famous on the show as an "emote," a celebratory dance that can be purchased by players in-game.
Ribeiro is just the latest celebrity or influencer to file a suit. Rapper 2 Milly and Instagrammer Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning have also filed complaints for misappropriation of their respective dances, the "Milly Rock" and "the Floss," [Variety reported](https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/fortnite-dance-lawsuit-1203092141/). The complaints allege copyright infringement and claim the game creators are violating the right of publicity of the celebrities associated with the dances.
"What Alfonso Ribeiro and 2 Milly and the Backpack Kid now have claimed is it looks like they're endorsing 'Fortnite''s use of their dance moves and they haven't provided that permission," Kroub said.
The outcome of these cases is difficult to predict.
"You can't copyright a single dance move but you can copyright under the copyright act choreography," he said, adding that copyrights on the moves are still pending.
"Really at the heart of this, though, is the fact that Epic is making a lot of money and these dances are generating revenue."
He added that one potential defense for Epic or Take-Two is to claim they were parodying, not performing, the dances. That said, the case will also depend on the items uncovered during discovery ー whether or not the game makers contacted any artists or just assumed the dances were public domain.
Most interestingly, Kroub said the complaints venture into "uncharted territory."
"No one knew a year ago 'the Carlton' would be generating untold numbers of revenue for a company, like Epic. And what we are seeing is video games are a big business and celebrities want to be associated," he said.
Fair Financial is riding high on its recent $385 million round of funding. Founder and CEO Scott Painter is even willing to bet the used-car-subscription startup will go public down the line. "In most cases, I think it is really foolish to set a target that says, 'we are going to be a public company,' but in Fair's case, there is quite literally just so much money involved," Painter told Cheddar on Friday. "It will have to be a public company sooner than later."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Dec. 21, 2018.
AppOnboard is looking to reinvent the app store by letting users instantly experience an app or game without having to download it. The company just raised $15 million in funding, bringing its total to $30 million this year. “We’re really excited to really re-invent the way that users consume apps,” Bryan Buskas, AppOnboard's chief operating officer told Cheddar on Thursday.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Of the CEO Class of 2018, who was crowned Biggest Flirt? Class Clown? Cheddar's Most Outspoken Award Goes to Tim Cook.
As we round out 2018, we’re reviewing the year's biggest letdowns for investors. To commemorate all the epic fails, we ranked the biggest flops ー the companies that enjoyed a booming 2017, but fizzled in 2018.
Stocks plunged on Thursday for the second day running, as the renewed threat of a government shutdown over the Christmas holiday weekend contributed to residual market weakness after the Fed's latest rate hike.
To cap off a rough year for Snap Inc., employees have been told they won’t receive cash bonuses after the company failed to meet its business goals. Instead, top-performing employees are receiving a discretionary incentive bonus in the form of more stock, the people said. Snapchat's stock is trading at all-time lows.
CEO Mary Barra made national headlines when General Motors announced in late November that 14,000 salaried and hourly workers would be cut for the sake of the company's growth. Backlash against Barra was swift; it populated the White House Twitter feed and echoed through the hall of Congress.
Securly is a start-up with a simple mission: to keep kids safe online. And the artificial intelligence company has just raised $16 million in series B funding to expand the reach of its social media tracking capabilities to more parents and schools. “We are going to take this money and invest in research and development and scaling up sales and distribution across America,” CEO and co-founder Vinay Mahadik told Cheddar.
Proposed legislation in New York City would require “cashless" restaurants ー which only accept debit and credit cards and mobile payments ー to give customers the option to pay in cash, and fine any establishment that refuses to accept it. Jason Oxman, CEO of the Electronic Transactions Association, discussed the backlash against cashless retail with Cheddar.
