Creators of ‘Fake’ BAYC NFTs to Pay Yuga Labs $9 Million

District Judge John F. Walter ordered artist Ryder Ripps and Not Larva Labs NFT marketplace founder Jeremy Cahen to pay $8.9 million to Yuga Labs in a trademark infringement case.

In June 2022, the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection filed a lawsuit against the defendants, accusing them of issuing and selling ‘fake’ tokens that ‘devalue’ the original works.

According to the document, Ripps ‘flooded the market with imitators, using original BAYC images and naming them RR/BAYC.’

In February 2023, the court upheld Yuga Labs’ claims of trademark infringement by Thomas Lehman, who created websites and smart contracts for RR/BAYC.

In October, the court ordered Ripps and Cahen to pay Yuga Labs approximately $1.575 million in damages. The new amount includes $7 million in legal fees and other expenses.

Earlier in the same month, Yuga Labs announced a restructuring and staff reductions. The studio identified the Otherside metaverse, launched in spring 2022, as a key focus.