The Copyright Registration Battle of Yuga Labs

The court documents revealed that Yuga Labs, a blockchain technology firm, lacks copyright registration for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) images.

According to the media reports, new documents have been filed by Yuga Labs in an ongoing lawsuit. That explains whether the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens (NFTs) own copyright.

However, the court documents said in the Yuga Labs and artist Ryder Ripps lawsuit that the blockchain tech firm lacks copyright registration for BAYC images. Many well-known celebrities are also facing lawsuits for promoting NFT collections. Meanwhile Yuga Labs further filed two different lawsuits against developers that were related to the Ripps collection.

It must be noted Yuga Labs does not own copyright registration for the BAYC NFT collection images. As the court document revealed in the case against Ripps. He used images from the popular NFT collection in his own NFT collection that is known as RR/BAYC. Thus Yuga Labs sued him for multiple reasons. These include false advertising, trademark infringement, and cybersquatting. But the parent company of BAYC did not sue Ripps for copyright reasons.

It may be an interesting development in the case that boosts a lot of discussion related to the copyright nature of the apes.

The court documents stated that “the registration of a copyright is not necessary to own one: it is necessary to file suit on one. The court should not move into whether Yuga Labs owns copyright in its BAYC images, because this kind of opinion would be just for advisory: Yuga Labs does not have a registered copyright, and there is therefore no imminent threat of a lawsuit for copyright infringement.”

Amidst the most popular NFT collections, the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection recently  noted a drop in its popularity. It experienced around a 30% decline in the past 24 hours in sales volume.

Notably, there were some celebrities who promoted Bored Ape NFTs such as Justin Bieber, Madonna, Steph Curry, and Paris Hilton, now facing Class Action Lawsuits. And the lawsuit was filed in California in December that alleges these celebrities violated state and federal laws.

Meanwhile, celebrities are also facing class action lawsuits for promoting Bored Ape NFTs. Such as Justin Bieber, Madonna, Steph Curry, and Paris Hilton. The lawsuit filed in California in December alleged that the celebrities violated state and federal laws. Celebrities openly supported the Bored Ape collection and for that they will get funds that were sent through MoonPay, a crypto fintech.

The Yuga Labs denied the claims that it is in between many lawsuits but it is continuously releasing its new collections that include recently launched Sewer Pass NFT collection.

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Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/01/28/the-copyright-registration-battle-of-yuga-labs/