Fresh Prince star Alfonso Ribeiro sues Fortnite over Carlton dance

Alfonso Ribeiro showing off his moves with former co-star Will Smith

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro is suing Fortnite's creators Epic Games, accusing them of copying his character's dance moves.

Ribeiro is also suing NBA 2K series creators Take-Two Interactive for using the "Carlton Dance".

The actor claims the companies unfairly profited from his "creative expression, likeness and celebrity".

The dance was made famous by his character Carlton Banks in the hit 1990s sitcom starring Will Smith.

Ribeiro famously performed the moves to Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual, and continues to performs it for fans.

The actor has filed legal papers at the US District Court in Central California.

"It is widely recognised 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," Ribeiro's lawyer David Hecht said in a statement.

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"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.

"Therefore, Mr Ribeiro is seeking his fair and reasonable share of profits Epic has earned by use of his iconic intellectual property."

Mr Hecht also represents Brooklyn rapper 2 Milly, who took similar legal action against Epic and Take-Two earlier this year, claiming the game developers misappropriated the Milly Rock, a dance move he created for a 2014 music video.

Fortnite is currently one of the most popular video games in the world, allowing millions of players to compete against each other in shooter-survival challenges.

NBA 2K is a basketball game. Epic Games declined to comment, while Take-Two Interactive has not responded to the lawsuit.