Artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen have suffered a setback in their legal battle against the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Yuga Labs. Their counterclaims have been dismissed, and they have been ordered to pay a hefty sum of $9 million in disgorgement and other damages.
In April 2023, Cointelegraph reported that Yuga Labs had won its case against Ripps and Cahen for copyright infringement. The artists had created unauthorized versions of BAYC nonfungible tokens (NFTs) under the name Ryder Ripps BAYC (RR/BAYC) collection, playing on the well-known BAYC brand.
As a result of the ruling, Ripps and Cahen were initially ordered to pay $1.57 million in damages to Yuga Labs, as well as covering legal fees. It was believed that this would bring an end to the lawsuit.
However, a recent court filing on Feb. 2 revealed that the judge dismissed Ripps and Cahen’s counterclaims. The artists are now required to pay nearly $9 million, which includes lawyer and expert witness fees, as well as disgorgement. They are also obliged to dispose of any RR/BAYC NFTs they possess.
Cahen, who is known as Pauly to his followers on X, announced their intention to appeal the decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of California.
Ripps and Cahen had filed counterclaims against Yuga Labs, accusing them of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and seeking a declaratory judgment of no defamation. However, the judge ruled in favor of Yuga Labs on their claims of false destination of origin and cybersquatting, imposing the multimillion-dollar penalty.
In addition to the monetary damages, Ripps and Cahen are required to surrender all social media accounts associated with RR/BAYC NFTs, as well as the smart contract.
The court filing stated that the defendants must destroy any other infringing materials, including NFTs, articles, documents, software, promotional items, or advertisements that they possess or control using any BAYC Mark.
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