A U.S. judge ruled that Bored Ape Yacht Club's pirated NFTs infringe on Yuga Labs' copyright

ChainCatcher news, the California court has ruled in the case of Yuga Labs suing Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen for copyright infringement that the counterfeit NFTs such as RR/BAYC infringe on Yuga Labs' copyright.

The court stated that Yuga Labs owns the BAYC trademark, and the defendants used the BAYC trademark (referring to the images) to sell RR/BAYC NFTs without Yuga Labs' consent, which could mislead consumers. Similar products could confuse consumers intending to purchase actual BAYC NFTs or use token tracking tools to track their value.

Additionally, the court ruled that the domain names "rrbayc.com" and "apemarket.com" registered and used by the defendants could also cause confusion, believing that the defendants' actions were maliciously intended for profit, with the possibility of domain squatting.

Ripps and Cahen are the developers behind the RR/BAYC NFT series, which features poses similar to the Bored Apes and uses marketing materials akin to BAYC. Yuga filed the lawsuit in June 2022, accusing Ripps and his associates of deliberately confusing consumers under the guise of satire to gain millions in improper profits. (CoinDesk)