• Yuga Labs is suing artist Ryder Ripps for trademark infringement.
• Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano, co-creators of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series, are being deposed as part of the lawsuit.
• Ripps has been waging a PR campaign to paint the Bored Apes and related intellectual property as covertly racist and pro-Nazi projects.
Yuga Labs, the corporate backer of the perennially popular Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token (NFT) series, has filed a trademark lawsuit against conceptual artist Ryder Ripps. The case is focused on the narrow legal issue of trademark infringement, but Ripps has been waging a PR campaign to paint the Bored Apes and related intellectual property as covertly racist and pro-Nazi projects.
At the center of the case are Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano, the co-creators of the BAYC series. Yuga argued in a Jan. 5 court filing ahead of a hearing on Monday that co-founders Aronow and Solano were “apex witnesses” and would not need to be deposed if lower-level employees could testify in their place. However, Aronow and Solano said they didn’t want to take the stand, but they didn’t want to be “doxxed” either.
The dispute is part of a larger battle between Yuga and Ripps, who has accused the company of giving attention to him in an effort to silence his damaging conspiracy theories. Ripps has consistently alleged that Yuga is using the Bored Apes to promote “cultural appropriation and white supremacy” in the form of “encrypted Nazi imagery.”
The two sides have sparred over the issue in numerous forums, including social media, interviews, and the courts. Yuga has denied Ripps’ claims and argued that he is simply attempting to gain publicity by smearing the company.
Meanwhile, the legal battle between the two parties continues to escalate. In an attempt to prove its case, Yuga is attempting to depose Aronow and Solano as part of its lawsuit. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Monday, and it remains to be seen if the two sides can reach a resolution or if the issue will continue to drag on.
Regardless of the outcome, the dispute is yet another example of the ongoing battle for control of the cultural narrative in the burgeoning world of the blockchain and cryptocurrency. As the technology continues to evolve, the legal and public relations battles between the companies and artists involved will likely only increase in intensity.
