Sorry, Alfonso Ribeiro. Turns out, the "Fresh Prince" actor can't copyright his famous "Carlton" dance.

The US Copyright Office ruled this week to dismiss the actor's lawsuit over "his" dance being used in Fortnite. The document stated the the "Carlton" is a simple dance routine of only three moves and not a piece of choreography, so it's not protected under copyright law.

Ribeiro had filed suit against Fortnite developer Epic Games and NBA 2K16 publisher Take-Two Interactive over their use of a similar dance.

"The fact that a dance or movement may contain more than a trivial amount of original authorship is irrelevant to this determination,” the U.S. Copyright Office said in a letter to Ribeiro’s law firm. "Social dances, simple routines, and other uncopyrightable movements are not ‘choreographic works’ under Section 102(a)(4) of the Copyright Act. As such, they cannot be registered, even if they contain a substantial amount of original, creative expression."

Ribeiro said he first invented the dance on a 1991 episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and that the dance is "is inextricably linked to him and his celebrity persona."
At least two other people are suing Epic Games for copying -- and making money off of -- their dance moves:  Rapper Terrence "2 Milly"  Ferguson and internet personality Russell " Backpack Kid" Horning.

[Via Variety]