A recent hearing on October 17 has shed light on a lawsuit involving non-fungible token (NFT) artist Ryder Ripps and his efforts to have the case against him dismissed. The legal proceedings relate to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and during the hearing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District appeared skeptical of arguments made by Ripps and his legal representation, who contended that the lawsuit should be dismissed on free speech grounds.
Ripps, along with Jeremy Cahen (known as "Pauly" on Twitter), argued that the case should be dropped based on their claims of free speech and art criticism. Thomas Sprankling, a lawyer for Ripps and Cahen, portrayed their sale and distribution of the counterfeit Bored Ape NFTs as an avant-garde artistic protest against alleged anti-Semitic imagery within the original NFT series created by Yuga Labs. He argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed under California's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law, which aims to prevent intimidation lawsuits and lawsuits targeting public participation.
However, the judges seemed less convinced by these arguments, primarily focusing on secondary sales of the NFTs and dismissing much of the art criticism claims. The judges did not appear to find a substantial basis for the art-related arguments presented during the hearing.
Yuga Labs originally filed the lawsuit against Ripps and Cahen in July 2022, accusing them of infringing trademark rights and making millions through trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition with their derivative NFT series, RR/BAYC. While a California district court found in favor of Yuga Labs in April, ordering that the RR/BAYC NFTs infringed on their trademark rights, the scope of damages and final conclusions are yet to be determined in the case.
