The lawsuit by Alfonso Ribeiro against Fortnite has been withdrawn. He had sued Epic Games, claiming they stole his Carlton dance from the series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” for their game.
This is the lawsuit in question: Alfonso Ribeiro, the TV star from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, had sued Fortnite in December 2018. According to his allegations, they had “stolen” his “Carlton Dance” for a dance emote in the game.
The lawsuit was hotly debated in the media, as Ribeiro was not the only celebrity who had sued Epic. For example, the rapper 2 Milly has also sued the developers.
This is how the lawsuit went: It has now been revealed that Alfonso Ribeiro has dropped his lawsuit. He no longer wants anything from Fortnite and is leaving the situation as it stands.
This is how the withdrawal is explained
This is what Ribeiro did: The actor had his lawyers submit a document to the judge in Los Angeles, stating that he is withdrawing from the lawsuit.
This is why he is stepping back: As an attorney for Ribeiro explained to “Fox News”, they want to comply with existing law as best as possible and accept the decision of the Supreme Court.
This was already decided: In February, the case was examined to determine whether the actor was the creator of the Carlton dance and whether he could protect it.
A review found that the dance was too simple for the actor. The three dance steps that make up the dance do not give anyone the right to protect them in any way.
Ribeiro apparently accepts this assessment. This could be the reason why he has withdrawn his lawsuit.
What does Epic say about it? From the developers of Fortnite, there has been no word on the topic so far. So it is unknown whether the actor and Epic have reached any out-of-court settlement.
However, the developers are likely relieved that the lawsuit has been dropped. How it stands with the other lawsuits against the dances, however, is still unknown.
But Fortnite itself has already issued numerous lawsuits:
