Slashdot Mirror
Copyright Office Refuses Registration for 'Fresh Prince' Star Alfonso Ribeiro's "Carlton Dance" (hollywoodreporter.com)
The U.S. Copyright Office is skeptical about Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro's ownership claim over the signature "Carlton Dance," which became famous after a 1991 episode of the Will Smith series. From a report: In correspondence last month that was surfaced on Wednesday in California federal court, Saskia Florence, a supervisory registration specialist in the Office's Performing Arts Division, told Ribeiro's attorney that registration must be refused because his claimed "choreographic work" was a "simple dance routine."
[...] Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the game NBA 2K, is now seizing upon the refusal in support of the argument that movements for the "Carlton Dance" are not protectable. Ribeiro is suing Take-Two as well as the publisher of Fortnite over special features that allow game players to have their avatars perform the dance. In a dismissal brief, Kirkland & Ellis attorney Dale Cendali makes some of the same arguments she did earlier in the week in an attempt to reject a similar lawsuit over Fortnite from the rapper 2 Milly. But there are particular contentions specifically directed at Ribeiro's claim.
[...] Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the game NBA 2K, is now seizing upon the refusal in support of the argument that movements for the "Carlton Dance" are not protectable. Ribeiro is suing Take-Two as well as the publisher of Fortnite over special features that allow game players to have their avatars perform the dance. In a dismissal brief, Kirkland & Ellis attorney Dale Cendali makes some of the same arguments she did earlier in the week in an attempt to reject a similar lawsuit over Fortnite from the rapper 2 Milly. But there are particular contentions specifically directed at Ribeiro's claim.
Wait a minute... we can dance?
Well . . .
Ah we can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind
Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're are no friends of mine I say, we can go where we want to, a place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind,
And we can dance
Etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
But after watching that video . . . maybe we should just leave it be.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Individual dance movements themselves cannot generally be copyrighted as far as I know, although I believe that entire dance performances may be. The "Carlton Dance" is not a specific entire dance, however, it is only a single specific and very simple dance movement. While entire dances can be copyrighted, as far as I am aware, individual dance movements themselves cannot be. That said, this sort of thing might ordinarily fall under trademark protection because it has a specific name associated with it.
But even there, I expect that there is already some danger of trademark dillution in that area, and such protection may be refused on those grounds.
In reality, IP protection for this should have been applied for before the first episode that utilized it had publicly aired. Copyright, however, would never be applicable, because while it might generally be referred to as the "Carlton Dance", it's technically not really a dance, but simply the execution of a particular gesture.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'