Yuga Labs settles lawsuit over alleged Bored Ape NFT copies

Yuga Labs reached a settlement with a group of artists accused of creating and selling NFTs that reproduced imagery from the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Court filings show the parties agreed to resolve the case and the plaintiffs will dismiss their claims against the named defendants. Financial terms and other conditions of the agreement were not disclosed.

In its complaint, Yuga Labs said the contested works copied the collection’s copyrighted images and infringed trademarks linked to the BAYC brand. The company framed the lawsuit as protection of its intellectual property and the commercial rights tied to Bored Ape images. The artists responded in filings that their works were artistic expressions or derivatives and raised defenses grounded in fair use, free expression and evolving practices for digital art and NFTs.

The case was pending for several months and drew attention within the NFT market because it concerned how existing intellectual property law applies to blockchain-based art and derivative works. Because the parties settled and terms are confidential, the dispute will not produce a court ruling that could have clarified those legal questions.

Representatives for Yuga Labs and for the artists declined to provide additional comment beyond filings confirming the settlement. Court records and filings filed in the matter provide the public details available at this time.

Yuga Labs launched the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection in 2021 and has taken legal steps previously to limit unauthorized commercial use of BAYC images and to enforce trademarks related to the brand. The company has pursued actions intended to address what it describes in complaints as misleading or infringing uses of its art.

With the settlement concluded, the specific legal boundaries for reusing or referencing popular NFT imagery remain unresolved by the courts. Observers in the market had been watching the case for potential precedent on remixing, attribution and commercialization of works derived from NFT collections.