NFT artists sued by Yuga Labs respond to allegations
NFT artist and his business partner are being sued by Yuga Labs. They are the creators of the well-known Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, for allegedly counterfeiting “copycat” versions of their NFT collection.
Yuga Labs filed suit in June
In June, Yuga filed a lawsuit against Not Larva Labs founder Jeremy Cahen and artist Ryder Ripps. But claiming that they had copied their NFT collections and undercut the value of the original Bored Ape products. The two have responded to the complaint and contested many of the charges.
Yuga Labs claims in its December 27 lawsuit,
“Each of these NFTs is an entry on a decentralized digital ledger and completely unique in design, making them both non-fungible and impossible to copy,”
According to Ripps and Cahen, their version of the BAYC collection, called RR/BAYC, does not infringe Yuga Labs’ copyright. Additionally, they claim that they “used conceptual art to critique hateful imagery” that Yuga Labs had used.
Earlier in December, the US District Court for the Central District of California denied the NFT maker’s motion to dismiss.
NFT manufacturers are also being sued
On another front, BAYC is also being sued. A class action lawsuit was filed by California law firm Scott + Scott against Yuga. However, nearly 40 other people and businesses on the grounds that they participated in “a grand scheme” involving secret celebrity endorsements for items such as BAYC. A representative for Yuga refuted this.
Why this issue is important
In cases involving NFTs, the Labs case underscores how critical it is to understand the technology that supports IP claims. The court was able to determine that the digital assets pointed to by Ripps’ RR/BAYC NFTs and Yuga Labs’ BAYC NFTs were identical by looking under the hood. Because of this subtlety, the court correctly concluded that Ripps’ NFTs were merely a collection of forgeries and did not qualify for consideration as an artistic medium under the Rogers test.
Also read: What is NFT Staking? Advantages and disadvantages of NFT Staking.
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