Hermès seeks full control of MetaBirkin NFTs
After succeeding in his lawsuit against Mason Rothchild over MetaBirkin NFTs, Hermès is now seeking more control over the digital collectibles in a new court order. On March 3, Hermès asked Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York (SDNY), to permanently block Rothschild from engaging with the brand in any way. More specifically, it wants the artist to be stopped from selling, promoting and distributing any digital collectibles associated with the Birkin brand.
Hermès filed a lawsuit against the artist in early 2022, alleging that he had stolen its intellectual property when he created an NFT collection that resembled Hermès’ iconic Birkin bag. The case dragged on for more than a year, before a jury ruled in favor of Hermès. As a result, the luxury brand was awarded $133,000 in damages.
Hermès will have everything related to MetaBirkin NFTs transferred to them
However, Hermès feels that this is not enough given that Rothschild interfered in future NFT plans. Now it wants him to transfer all MetaBirkin NFTs, smart contracts, domain names and social media accounts to its control.
The court order also notes that the artist must turn over any royalties he has received from the MetaBirkins project. According to Hermès, Rothschild still earns 7.5% in royalties when the NFTs trade on the secondary market.
A quick dig into Etherscan data reveals that the last sale of a MetaBirkin NFT took place last November and cost 1.2 wrapped ether, or $1,555. On the other hand, the last transfer of these NFTs between different wallets took place in December.
The claims have been met with disgust by Rothschild’s defense team. His attorney, Rhett Millsaps, confirms the order “a gross handover from Hermès and an attempt to punish Mr. Rothschild because they don’t like his art.”
Now the team plans to file a response to the latest development, with the lawyer warning that the case is far from over.
Want more? Connect to NFT Plazas
Join the weekly newsletter
Join our Discord
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to research all products before making any type of investment.
Basil is an avid fan of blockchain technology and all its innovations, and he is passionate about sharing this narrative with his audience. He has spent over five years in the crypto space, specializing in research and creating Web3 content for various media around the world.
