The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has filed a lawsuit against the self-proclaimed creator of the first cryptocurrency, Craig Wright. The action follows his claims of copyright over the Bitcoin White Paper and a demand to remove the document from public sources.
Today, COPA initiated a lawsuit asking the UK High Court to declare that Mr. Craig Wright does not have copyright ownership over the Bitcoin White Paper. We stand in support of the Bitcoin developer community and the many others who\’ve been threatened for hosting the White Paper. pic.twitter.com/QNDEq3H6Oq
— COPA (@opencryptoorg) April 12, 2021
COPA has filed the suit in the High Court of London. The alliance sought a declaration that the defendant is not the author and does not hold the corresponding rights to the Bitcoin White Paper.
The claimant also sought to prohibit Wright from asserting involvement in writing the document, claiming copyright, or taking any actions implying that such statements are true.
“We support the Bitcoin developer community and many others who have been threatened for hosting the white paper,” COPA said.
The organization was founded in September 2020 to broaden access for cryptocurrency companies to technology through a shared library of patents.
Among the participants are Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square. On 15 March 2021, the cryptocurrency exchanges OKCoin and Kraken joined COPA, along with the analytics software provider MicroStrategy and Chaincode Labs.
COPA wants a world where people can use cryptocurrency without being afraid of patents or legal threats. We are so grateful for your support. We\’re excited to announce @OKCoin, @krakenfx, @ChaincodeLabs, and @MicroStrategy as new members. Join us at https://t.co/MXctA8fTge.
— COPA (@opencryptoorg) March 15, 2021
In 2019, Wright registered copyright for the Bitcoin White Paper and the original Bitcoin code. Later, the United States Copyright Office clarified that it did not recognise him as the creator of the digital gold Satoshi Nakamoto.
In January 2021, Wright accused Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org of copyright infringement and demanded that the white paper be removed. Lawyers from Ontier sent a similar letter to Square, on whose site размещена copy of the document.
Bitcoin.org’s owner Cobra declined to comply with the demand. On 1 February, he said he had received death threats from someone allegedly linked to the Bitcoin SV community.
Earlier, Balaji Srinivasan, the former Coinbase CTO, proposed that government websites in various countries host the Bitcoin White Paper in response to Wright’s assertions. Estonia and Colombia backed the call.
In February, COPA demanded that the self-proclaimed creator of Bitcoin explain on what grounds he asserts copyright on the white paper.