- A US judge has dismissed Ryder Ripps’ counterclaims against Yuga Labs.
- The creator of the BAYC copycat now has to pay substantial damages.
- Despite receiving hefty fines, the BAYC copycat isn’t going out without a fight.
Yuga Labs’ legal tussle with Ryder Ripps has taken an interesting turn. After being fined over $1 million for copyright infringement, the digital artist behind the satirical BAYC duplicate receives yet another hard blow with a $9 million price tag.
Ryder Ripps vs. Yuga Labs Meets an Unexpected End
Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps’ year-long legal showdown has finally reached its climax as US District Judge John F. Walter delivered the final verdict favoring the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creator.
Initially, the digital artist behind the BAYC copy faced a hefty $1.57 million fine in damages to Yuga Labs, seemingly concluding the case.
Sponsored
Yet, the plot thickened when Ryder Ripps, alongside Jeremy’ Pauly0x’ Cahen, promptly counterclaimed, asserting that they would only settle the case for a $100 billion payout. In a surprising twist, the Judge dismissed their motion, ordering the duo to pay Yuga Labs an eye-watering $9 million in profits disgorgement, penalties, legal fees, and additional expenses.
The judgment also entails that Ripps and Cahen surrender the copycat NFTs and transfer any infringing intellectual property, including domain names and smart contracts, to Yuga Labs within the next fortnight.
According to the filing, “Defendants shall destroy any and all other infringing materials, including NFTs, articles, documents, software, promotional items, or advertisements in their possession or control using any BAYC Mark.”
Soon following the verdict, Cahen reassured his 174,000 followers on X that the pair isn’t backing down and intends to appeal the decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of California.
On the Flipside
- Ryder Ripps argues that he’s “bringing attention to Yuga’s use of racist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right messages and imagery” via the parody RR-BAYC collection.
- Yuga Labs is worth $4 billion, much higher than Ryder Ripps’ $100 billion payout target.
Why This Matters
Ryder Ripps’ case against Yuga Labs presents an interesting perspective into what is legally permitted and not in the NFT space. It also affirms that NFTs can be copyrighted despite having different IDs on the blockchain.
Sponsored
FTX is looking to sell its stake in Anthropic:
FTX Petitions to Dump 8% Stake in OpenAI Rival Anthropic
Are celebs done with doing crypto ads?
Larry David Regrets Doing Crypto Ad: Are Celebs Done?
