SNEAK PEEK
- Ripps and Jeremy Cohen, the creator of apemarket.com, filed an Anti-SLAPP motion in response to Yuga Labs’ action against them.
- In the end, Ripps and Cahen could have a case. Anti-SLAPP, or “Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” is the term used.
- Yuga Lab’s action, in the words of a WilmerHale lawyer, is an “unjustified attempt to restrict Mr. Ripps’s creative critique.”
Ryder Ripps, a provocateur, and the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection are still at odds. To respond to Yuga Labs’ lawsuit against them, Ripps and Jeremy Cohen, the creator of apemarket.com, filed an Anti-SLAPP motion.
Ripps and Cahen may have a case after all. The phrase “Anti-SLAPP” refers to “Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.” Even though they both profit from their Bored Ape Yacht Club imitation NFT collection.
if YugaLabs didn’t sue @Pauly0x and i simply because they are threatened by our speech than why don’t they sue these people too?… who are making no statement and is purely just a rip-off “copycat” project…? https://t.co/j2KImxV5m7 pic.twitter.com/jEqXdIpfSI
— RYDER-RIPPS.ETH 🔜 (@ryder_ripps) August 17, 2022
You should be aware that Ripps claims the BAYC contains hidden Nazi and racial symbolism. After analyzing the situation following the allegations, Yuga Labs‘ creators produced not one, but two denials. The provocateur afterward produced an NFT collection with the name RR BAYC that is identical to the original one, and it is now making money by selling those individual NFTs.
why are kali yuga labs and their fans so quiet about our response to their lawsuit? they brought the lawsuit against us, you’d think they’d be gloating!.. well here it is, give it a read and report back why you think they are scared to address it.. https://t.co/Jhmy5PoqDj
— RYDER-RIPPS.ETH 🔜 (@ryder_ripps) August 17, 2022
Counsel for the defendants claims that the “obvious purpose” of Yuga’s lawsuit is “to bully Mr. Ripps and Mr. Cahen into silence” and that such a suit is “exactly why anti-SLAPP statutes exist” in their recently filed motion, in which Ripps and Cahen are seeking to have Yuga’s complaint dismissed on anti-SLAPP grounds or for failing to allege a plausible cause of action.
According to a WilmerHale attorney’s statement, Yuga Lab’s lawsuit is an “unjustified attempt to stifle Mr. Ripps’s creative criticism.” He continued by explaining how Mr. Ripps’ artwork exposed racist and neo-Nazi images in the collection of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. And lawsuits like this are precisely why the anti-SLAPP statute exists.
That is the kind of artistic expression that the First Amendment safeguards. Yuga’s complaint has been sought to be dismissed by the court, and we anticipate seeking attorney’s fees and expenses, he added.
Additionally, Yuga Labs hasn’t filed any legal action against any of the several BAYC copycat collections that can be found throughout the NFT market.
