--- title: "Yuga Labs Files Furious Lawsuit Against Guy Minting Copies of Bored Apes" description: "Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, is suing Ryder Ripps, an outspoken NFT critic who minted his own collection of Bored Ape clones." date: "2022-06-27" modified: "2022-06-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/yuga-labs-lawsuit-copies-bored-apes" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "bored apes" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # Yuga Labs Files Furious Lawsuit Against Guy Minting Copies of Bored Apes ![Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, is suing Ryder Ripps, an outspoken NFT critic who minted his own collection of Bored Ape clones.]() *\Image: BAYC/OpenSea\* Yuga Labs, the company behind the immensely popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, is suing Ryder Ripps, an outspoken NFT critic and self-described "satirist" who minted his own collection of Bored Ape clones as a stunt. They're accusing Ripps of copyright infringement, [*Decrypt* reports](), claiming that he's intentionally undermining their intellectual property. The lawsuit reignites a familiar debate surrounding the ambiguities of ownership in the strange new world of NFTs, and may even offer new legal clarity for the relative vacuum that these projects and exchanges are currently operating within. "This is no mere monkey business," the company's suit [reads](). "These actions are calculated, intentional, and willful with the stated purpose of causing actual and monetary harm to Yuga Labs and to the holders of authentic Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs." Ripps first started minting his own bored apes in May as part of a collection called RR/BAYC. Yuga Labs slammed him almost immediately with a DMCA takedown notice — but later rescinded it after Ripps disputed it, [according to previous reporting by *Decrypt*](). Prominent NFT marketplace OpenSea did later take down the collection, highlighting the strange role of marketplaces as de facto enforcers. But Ripps still got away with almost $3.5 million, according to *Decrypt*. The collection was an attempt to reflect on the absurdity of "owning" exclusive rights to simple, [easy to replicate]() JPEGs online. If nothing else, it's interesting to see an NFT company pushing back. "The craziest thing to me is that this company has made billions of dollars and has sold people on a complete lie, which is that they own commercial rights to these drawings," Ripps told *Decrypt* of the project earlier this month. "What they really mean is just that they don't care who uses them, and won’t sue anybody." Yuga Labs clearly has had a change of heart since then, raising the stakes with this new suit. "We will continue to be transparent with our community as we fight these slanderous claims," Yuga Labs wrote in a [Twitter statement]() last week. "In order to put a stop to the continuous infringement, and other illegal attempts to bring harm to us and the BAYC community, we have filed a lawsuit against the responsible parties." Whether the suit will actually ever go to trial remains to be seen. But its outcome could establish key legal precedent about NFTs. **READ MORE:** [Yuga Labs Lawsuit Accuses Ryder Ripps of 'Scamming Consumers' With Fake Bored Apes]() \[*Decrypt*\] **More on Bored Apes:** *[Teen Makes $700,000 Selling Action Figures of Bored Apes to Adult Children]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()