The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro is suing Epic Games for allegedly stealing a dance he popularized and recreating it in Fortnite.
The actor played a character called Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince back in the '90s, and during his time on the show became well-known for performing an iconic dance move that's since been dubbed 'The Carlton.'
As reported by The Huffington Post, Ribeiro claims Epic knowingly misappropriated his dance by replicating and selling it in Fortnite as the 'Fresh' emote, with the name itself being an obvious reference to television show.
"It is widely recognized that Mr. Ribeiro's likeness and intellectual property have been misappropriated by Epic Games in the most popular video game currently in the world, Fortnite," wrote Ribeiro's attorney David Hetch.
"Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like 'Fresh.' Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property."
Hetch says Ribeiro is now seeking a "fair and reasonable" share of the profits Epic has earned through selling the dance move.
The attorney is also representing another artist in a similar lawsuit against Epic, with rapper 2 Milly also suing the studio for using his signature 'Milly Rock' dance move without permission.
Meanwhile, TMZ is reporting that Russell Horning (a.k.a. Backpack Kid) has just filed a lawsuit against Epic for stealing his ionic dance move 'The Floss.'
As it stands, Ribeiro, 2 Milly, and Horning are all attempting to claim the copyright for their respective dances, and it'll be interesting to see how the result of each suit affects Epic and other game devs using similar emotes.