Fake NFT BAYC Creators to Pay Yuga Labs $9M

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District Judge John F. Walter has ruled that artist Ryder Ripps and NFT marketplace Not Larva Labs founder Jeremy Cahan must pay $8.9 million to Yuga Labs in a recent trademark infringement case.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2022 by the creators of popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), accused the defendants of creating and selling fake tokens that devalued the original works.

The court found that Ripps had flooded the market with copycat versions of BAYC using the original images and branding as RR/BAYC.

Yuga Labs also claimed that Thomas Lehman, the creator of the websites and smart contracts for RR/BAYC, had violated their trademark rights. In February 2023, the court upheld Yuga Labs’ claims and ordered Ripps and Cahan to pay $1.575 million in compensation to the company.

The court also added $7 million in legal fees and other expenses to the total amount. It is worth noting that Yuga Labs announced a restructuring of its team and staff reduction in October 2022.

They are now focusing on the development of their metaverse Otherside, which was launched in the spring of 2022.