Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, has recently approached a U.S. court with a request to impose sanctions on artist Ryder Ripps.
The request comes after allegations that Ripps intentionally destroyed the private keys to his wallets, which contained RR/BAYC NFTs. This act, according to Yuga Labs, was aimed at obstructing the court’s injunction. Ripps and his legal team have countered this request, urging the court to dismiss Yuga Labs’ plea for sanctions.
Yuga Labs requests court sanction on Ryder Ripps for destroying private keys in ‘bad faith’ https://t.co/O5RkOgjvuD
— The Block (@TheBlock__) March 13, 2024
Legal Tensions Escalate
The legal battle between Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps, alongside his associate Jeremy Cahen, centers around the creation of RR/BAYC NFTs. Yuga Labs claims these works infringe upon its Bored Ape Yacht Club trademark. A decision by the court in October sided with Yuga Labs, recognizing the RR/BAYC NFTs as a violation of its intellectual property rights.
Following this decision, an injunction issued on October 25 required Ripps and Cahen to either destroy any NFTs infringing on Yuga Labs’ intellectual property or hand them over to Yuga Labs for destruction.
Yuga Labs stated in its filing:
“Given Mr. Ripps’ bad-faith destruction of his private keys, misleading declaration, and continued misrepresentations to Yuga Labs and the Court, the Court should exercise its inherent power and hold Mr. Ripps in contempt.”
Response from Ripps’ Camp
In response to Yuga Labs’ latest filing, the defendants called for the court to dismiss the sanctions request put forward by Yuga Labs. They highlighted that contrary to Yuga Labs’ claims, communication had been initiated by Ripps’ counsel following the company’s filing. Moreover, they argued that Ripps had adhered to the court’s injunction from October in its entirety, save for the directives related to wallets to which he no longer had access.
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According to the filing, Yuga Labs pointed out in its filing that Ripps disclosed the destruction of his wallet’s private keys on February 21, an action he had taken back in December of the previous year. Ripps justified his actions by stating that he aimed to avoid any inadvertent violations of the court’s injunction.
“Mr. Ripps’ actions only further harm Yuga Labs by frustrating the purpose of the Court’s injunction,” Yuga Labs highlighted.
Furthermore, Yuga Labs argued that deleting private keys does not relinquish Ripps’ ownership of the NFTs, and they remain linked to him. They also suggested that Ripps could regain access to his NFTs should he have physical or digital backups of his private keys.
Editorial credit: mundissima / Shutterstock.com
