Yuga Labs Accuses Ryder Ripps of Destroying NFT Keys to Evade Court Order
Bored Ape Yacht Club creators, Yuga Labs, are accusing artist Ryder Ripps of contempt of court. In a recent filing, they allege Ripps deliberately destroyed access to his wallets containing RR/BAYC NFTs to avoid complying with a court order.
Yuga Labs claims Ripps’ actions were made in “bad faith” and that he misled the court. They are requesting the court punish Ripps for these actions.
In a filing last week in a California District Court, Yuga Labs requested sanctions against Ripps for his alleged actions. The company stated that Ripps’s deliberate destruction of private keys was an attempt to thwart the court’s injunction.
In April 2023, a judge ruled in favor of Yuga Labs in its claim against Ripps and Cahen for violating copyright laws by creating unauthorized versions of BAYC nonfungible tokens (NFTs). This came after the pair played on the words of the well-known BAYC brand, launching the Ryder Ripps BAYC (RR/BAYC) collection in May 2022.
As a result, Ripps and Cahen were ordered to pay a total of $1.57 million in damages to Yuga Labs, along with covering legal fees, supposedly bringing the lawsuit to an end. The Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on October 25, 2023, confirmed that the injunction would be enforced due to the irreparable harm caused by the infringing conduct—the injunction aimed to allow Yuga Labs to regain control over its brand and reputation.
On February 3, 2024, the Court issued a final judgment in favor of Yuga Labs, mandating that defendants destroy or transfer their RR/BAYC NFTs within two weeks. However, on February 21, 2024, Mr. Ripps, through counsel, disclosed for the first time that he had allegedly destroyed the private keys for wallets containing RR/BAYC NFTs back on
Read more on cryptonews.com
