Feb 20, 2023
Yuga Labs Accused of Illegally Trademarking NFT Logo
The logo of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a premier nonfungible token (NFT) collection from Yuga Labs, has been allegedly illegally trademarked without proper licensing. This logo, which consists of a wolf skull, was originally released by a company that specializes in drawing tutorials for children and beginners.
The purpose of NFTs is to protect artists from the illegal use of intellectual properties, which is the very problem that Yuga Labs has been accused of. A crypto Twitter member and NFT artist, @Jdotcolombo, discovered a post from April 5, 2021, in which Easy Drawing Guides advertised “an easy step-by-step drawing tutorial” for a wolf skull. This art closely resembled BAYC’s official logo, which raised questions of wrongdoing considering that BAYC’s Kennel Club collectibles launched on June 17, 2021.
Easy Drawing Guides then responded to the commotion, confirming that Yuga Labs had no license to use the wolf skull drawing. On top of that, Yuga Labs had trademarked the unlicensed logo as its own. Easy Drawing Guides stated that the “intellectual property rights for the drawing belong to Easy Drawing Guides as it’s our original drawing and protected by our Terms and Conditions”.
Cointelegraph confirmed that the terms and conditions of Easy Drawing Guides grant a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited license to use and access the website solely for personal, non-commercial use.
While some BAYC supporters believe that no intellectual property was breached in using the logo, most agree that Easy Drawing Guides is entitled to compensation. As of now, Yuga Labs has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
This dilemma is not new for Yuga Labs. One of the founders of the BAYC copycat NFT collection RR/BAYC filed an opposition notice against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs. The notice highlighted a list of “grounds for opposition” against Yuga Labs’ filings, claiming that the company “abandoned any rights” to certain logo and artwork designs due to BAYC NFT sales granting “all rights” of the digital images to the owners.
The recent news of the alleged illegal trademark of BAYC’s wolf skull logo has caused a stir in the web3 space. The violation of intellectual property rights is a serious issue, and it is important to ensure that all NFTs and crypto projects are marketed and promoted legally. As NFTs continue to gain popularity, it is essential to have a trusted NFT marketing agency that can provide comprehensive services, such as Twitter NFT marketing, to ensure that all NFTs are properly promoted and sold. A web3 agency that specializes in selling NFTs can provide the necessary guidance and resources to ensure that NFTs are marketed and sold in a legal and ethical manner.
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