U.S. Court Denies Ripps Filed Motions Against Yuga Labs

The lawsuit between Non-fungible token (NFT) producer Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps is still progressing and according to a new court filing, a United States federal court has denied a motion to dismiss opposition from Yuga Labs. 

The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs sued American conceptual artist Ryder Ripps and the founder of NFT marketplace Not Larva Labs, Jeremy Cahen, in June this year.

They were indicted for putting duplicates of the BAYC NFTs up for sale. Based on a published statement by the California-based court, this was “calculated, intentional, and willful” as it was targeted towards defaming the original creators and at the same time, making a profit for himself.

“This is no mere monkey business. It is a deliberate effort to harm Yuga Labs at the expense of consumers by sowing confusion about whether these RR/BAYC NFTs are in some way sponsored, affiliated, or connected to Yuga Labs’ official Bored Ape Yacht Club,” the lawsuit outlined.

For the Ripps’ RR/BAYC NFT series, Ryder introduced Yuga Labs images but linked them with a different digital token. Each piece of Ripps’ RR/BAYC NFT was sold for the equivalent of $200, a far cry from its real value of $100,000 for the lowest. Amongst several charges against Ripps were false advertising and trademark infringement.

Ripps Disregards Yuga Labs Lawsuit

At the time, Yuga Labs through its lawyers requested financial damages, a court order that he should refrain from infringing the works of the creator and a ban on using similar domain names. Meanwhile, Ripps mentioned that the lawsuit was an attack on his freedom of speech right. 

“RR/BAYC is an expressive conceptual artwork illuminating truths about YugaLabs and establishing that you can not copy an NFT. Nothing about this ruling can or will change those objective facts,” the American artist said.

Thereafter, Ripps and Cahen filed a motion to dismiss opposition from the BAYC NFT creator. They also filed an anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) motion. As it stands, both motions have been denied by the court. 

On the other hand, Yuga Labs and a handful of celebrities are currently faced with an enforcement lawsuit. The filing claims that celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Steph Curry, Justin Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lil Baby, Kevin Hart, and Paris Hilton were all paid to promote Yuga Labs’ NFT collections.