U.S. District Judge John Walter has ordered non-fungible token (NFT) artist Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, an influencer known as @Pauly0x on X (formerly Twitter) to pay nearly US$9 million to Yuga Labs.
Last October, the court sided with Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), in the NFT company’s court battle against Ripps and Cahen.
The court awarded Yuga Labs the rights to the defendants’ profits of over US$1.37 million and concluded that Yuga Labs was entitled to recover “reasonable” attorneys’ fees from the defendants.
The latest final judgment dated Feb. 2, shows US$7 million in attorneys’ fees, raising the total payout closer to US$9 million.
In July 2022, Yuga Labs sued Ripps and Cahen for violating intellectual property rules with copycat NFTs. Ripps and Cahen entered the legal battle hoping for a US$100 billion payout, according to crypto news outlet The Block.
Yuga Labs’ BAYC is the second-most traded NFT of all time, according to CryptoSlam data. Its US$3 billion sales volume is about US$1 billion shy of Axie Infinity.
