“Carlton” Doesn’t Own “The Carlton Dance”
THIS is what got Alfonso Ribeiro so up in arms that he sued the makers of the popular video game, “Fortnite.”
You see, Alfonso was “Carlton Banks” on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and his character became famous for a certain dance.
It became, and forever has been known as “The Carlton Dance.” So, Ribeiro thought, “Hey, I own that,” and Fortnite’s gonna have to pay me some dough!
Not so fast my friend.
A Federal court has decided that the “Carlton Dance” can’t be copywritten and denied his quest to own the rights to it. Officially, the U.S. Copyright Office broke down the dance and said, “The combination of these three dance steps is a simple routine that is not registerable as choreographic work.”
Ouch.
I don’t know what makes me feel worse, that “Carlton” didn’t get paid or that our tax dollars were actually utilized paying someone to break down the “Carlton Dance.”
