NFT Artist Files Counterclaim in Yuga Labs Lawsuit

Yuga Labs, the creators of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are facing a counterclaim in an ongoing lawsuit against artist Ryder Ripps and the founder of NFT marketplace Not Larva Labs, Jeremy Cahen.

Yuga Labs had accused Ripps and Cahen of copying their NFT collection and devaluing the original BAYC products, but the pair have denied many of the allegations, claiming that their version of the BAYC collection, called RR/BAYC, does not infringe on Yuga Labs’ copyright and that they used conceptual art to critique the imagery used by Yuga Labs.

The U.S. District Court of Central California denied a motion in favor of Yuga Labs earlier in December.

Yuga Labs is also being sued by Californian law firm Scott + Scott in a class-action suit that alleges that Yuga Labs was part of “a vast scheme” of undisclosed celebrity endorsements to promote products like BAYC, a claim that has been denied by a Yuga Labs spokesperson.