Yuga Labs, creators of the popular non-fusible token (NFT) project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), have filed a The lawsuit against the artist and co-creator, called Ryder Ripps, alleges that Ripps and his associates vandalized the company and initiated a “scam to misuse the Yuga Labs trademark to induce consumers to purchase RR/BAYC NFTs,” according to Yuga Lab’s lawsuit.
Yuga Labs sues Ryder Ripps, aims to “fight slander”
Yuga Labs has filed a lawsuit in California against artist Ryder Ripps and several of his associates. The company took to Twitter on June 24 to discuss the lawsuit, saying the support from the community has been “overwhelming.”
“We will continue to be transparent with our community as we fight these defamatory claims,” Yuga Labs said. We are filing suit against the responsible parties to put a stop to these ongoing infringements and other illegal attempts to damage our company and the BAYC community.” We will continue to explore and pursue all legal options at our disposal.”
Yuga Labs condemnsandRyder Ripps for “attempting to devalue” the official BAYC NFTs with a copycat collection called RR/BAYC NFTs. The lawsuit accuses Ripps of using original BAYC images and marketing the NFTs as official BAYC products.
The Yuga Labs trademark was also allegedly used on Ripps’ “Ape Market” NFT marketplace. The lawsuit states that this is “not mere monkey business,” adding that Ripps’ actions are a “deliberate effort to harm Yuga Labs at the expense of consumers.”
During the first week of February, Ryder Ripps accused,Yuga Labs trademark as having “Nazi ties,” and Yuga Labs co-founder Gordon Goner responded to the accusation in a blog post on Medium,emphasizing that the allegations were “crazy far-fetched.”
The blog post goes into detail about why BAYC’s creators chose Apes, the inspiration behind the design of the BAYC logo, and the company’s name, Yuga Labs. The lawsuit accuses Lips and several co-conspirators of “perpetuating a fraud.”
In the lawsuit, Ripps claims that his actions are “satire,” while Yuga Labs alleges that Ripps has made millions of dollars in illicit profits from the RR/BAYC NFT collection. Ripps continues totweetabout the alleged connection between certain symbols utilized by Yuga Labs.
The creator of the RR/BAYC NFT collection alsotweetedabout “the terms agreed to by those who purchased RR/BAYC’s”. It says that customers “understand that this is a new mint of BAYC imagery and will be recontextualized as protest and satirical commentary for educational purposes.”
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Feature cover credit: Bored Ape Yacht Club Art, Yuga Labs