Ryder Ripps sues Yuga Labs for Nazi accusations

Following Ryder Ripps' assertions that BAYC was inspired by Nazi symbolism, Yuga Labs has filed a defamation suit against him.

Yuga Labs, the business that created Bored Ape Yacht Club, has filed a lawsuit against Ryder Ripps, the developer of gordongoner.net. Ripps' charges that BAYC is "actively putting Nazi dog whistles throughout their initiative" were recently dismissed as a "crazy misinformation effort" by the organization's founders. The complaint, filed in the District Court of California, reads:

“FALSE DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN, FALSE ADVERTISING, CYBERSQUATTING, TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT, UNFAIR COMPETITION, UNJUST ENRICHMENT, CONVERSION, AND TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE”

The motion also asks for a jury trial to settle the case. FatManTerra, a blockchain whistleblower, stated, "If you are guilty, it should be known." You do not deserve to be slandered if you are innocent. The only method to discover this is by a rigorous examination of evidence in a court of law."

Ripps built his own RR/BAYC-branded NFTs and sold them on his website for 0.15 ETH. According to the website, the RR variants have sold out and have temporarily surpassed the capacity of the main project. Ripps will have made an estimated $1.8 million from the collection at 10,000 NFTs, which Yuga Labs refers to as "ill-gotten profit."

Ripps is being sued by Yuga Labs.

The complaint claims that Ripps has been "trolling Yuga Labs and duping customers into purchasing RR/BAYC NFTs by exploiting Yuga Labs' trademarks." Ripps, according to Yuga Labs, is seeking to "devalue" the BAYC project by releasing his own RR/BAYC NFTs and "flooding the market."

Ripps' NFT collection has been withdrawn from a number of NFT platforms, including OpenSea and Foundation. However, only hours before the case was made public, Ripps tweeted that the NFTs will be relisted on Foundation. At the moment, a DMCA notification prevents people from seeing the RR/BAYC NFTs on Foundation, while they remain blocked on OpenSea. According to Yuga Labs,

“Ripps claims his actions are “satire,” yet he conveniently rakes in millions in ill-gotten profit from sales of the RR/BAYC NFTs using Yuga Labs’ marks to make those sales. Copying is not satire, it is theft. And lying to consumers is not conceptual art, it is deception.”

In the end, Yuga Labs seeks injunctive relief and monetary penalties for deceptive advertising, fraudulent designation of origin, cybersquatting, and unfair competition. Yuga Labs may be pursuing the domain name gordongoner.net, which utilizes the BAYC founder's name, based on the mention of cybersquatting.

Ryder Ripps' reaction

Ryder Ripps is a digital artist who was named one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in 2016 after working with various well-known celebrities. Ripps responded on Twitter with a series of posts equating the measure to attempting to outlaw Saturday Night Live, art, or satire.

Ripps has openly conceded that BAYC's present status looks to contradict its supposed "nazi beginnings." In a prior Twitter Space with OKHotshot, Ripps argued that BAYC's attempt to distance itself from its Nazi roots is akin to "black people reclaiming the n-word" and is "fucking brilliance."

The musician also distanced himself from a recent YouTube film that resurrected racist charges by stating that he did not make the documentary. He has, however, maintained his campaign to uncover BAYC's origins by posting photos alleging Nazi origins.

Others in the sector concur that Ripps has revealed some unsettling coincidences. Swissborg co-founder Alex Fazel noted that there is "some twisted things in this narrative & some weird "coincidences." "I'm not yet accusing anyone." Cory Klippsten of Swan Bitcoin appears to back up Ripps' assertions, saying:

“I’d put it at 99.99% the project is in fact a deliberate troll, intentionally replete with Nazi symbols and esoteric racist dog whistles.”

Surprisingly, Yuga Labs' trademark is still pending despite being submitted in 2021, according to the court records. "Rights in a pending trademark application are small," according to Intellectual Property lawyer Gerben. You will not have federal trademark registration rights until the USPTO evaluates and approves your application." As a consequence, one of the accusations brought against Ripps does not include copyright infringement. Greb0wski, an IP lawyer and NFT collector, alerted USA GAG.

“Yuga cite ‘common law trademark rights’ – this is unregistered rights that accrue to a mark holder prior to registration. (TM vs (R). In the UK this would be the tort of ‘passing off. Common law TM rights are not as strong as fully registered ones, but do serve to protect brand holders from 3rd parties copying their brand’”

Yuga Labs' inability to sue Ryder Ripps for copyright might potentially have an impact on investors, according to Greb0wski, who stressed that "it's an intriguing question of whether Yuga can enforce copyright for ape holders."

If this case goes to court, it will undoubtedly be one of the most closely followed crypto cases in history. All sides will certainly gain from the exposure, and the community will receive a legal judgement on the genuine origins of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

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