Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has reached a confidential settlement with artist Ryder Ripps and his partner Jeremy Cahen, ending a multi-year legal battle over trademark infringement and appropriation art. The dispute began in 2022 when Ripps launched his RR/BAYC NFT collection, which used identical imagery to the original Bored Apes to protest alleged racist and alt-right symbolism within the project. As part of the agreement, Ripps and Cahen are now under a permanent injunction preventing them from using any Yuga Labs trademarks or images.
This case serves as a landmark moment for the intersection of intellectual property law and digital art, testing the boundaries of 'appropriation art' within the NFT space. While Yuga Labs successfully defended its brand, the settlement arrives as the NFT market faces a severe downturn, with the company's valuation and asset prices plummeting since the lawsuit's inception. The resolution marks the end of one of the most high-profile ideological and legal clashes of the crypto-art era.