The iconic wolf skull logo of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Yuga Labs’ premier non-fungible token (NFT) collection, has allegedly been illegally registered as a trademark without the proper licenses. The image was originally released by a company specializing in drawing tutorials for kids and beginners.
NFTs were introduced to the world to help solve the problem of intellectual property abuse and protect artists, the very problem that Yuga Labs is accused of. Crypto Twitter contributor and NFT artist @Jdotcolombo stumbled upon mail dated April 5, 2021, in which Easy Drawing Guides advertised an “easy step-by-step drawing guide” for a wolf skull.
The image provided by the company closely resembled the official BAYC logo, which initially raised suspicions of wrongdoing given that the BAYC Kennel Club collectibles were released on June 17, 2021.
Bro @BoredApeYC @yugalabs what a fucking joke bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah head you gotta explain to me 04/05/21 and your nurseries came out on 06/21 and you went and trademarked this skull. Are you guys okay or did you hit your head? https://t.co/HiLFdbnFL5 pic.twitter.com/FJigzJgBr8
— COLOMBO (@Jdotcolombo) February 17, 2023
Easy Drawing Guides responded to the commotion to confirm that Yuga Labs does not have a license to use the wolf skull pattern. Taking it one step further, Yuga Labs has registered the unlicensed logo as its own trademark. In response, Easy Drawing Guides stated:
“The intellectual property rights to the drawing belong to Easy Drawing Guides as it is our original drawing and is protected by our Terms.”
Cryptooshala has confirmed that the terms of the Easy Drawing Guides grant a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited license to use and access the website solely for personal, non-commercial use.
On the one hand, BAYC supporters believe that no intellectual property has been infringed upon using the logo; however, most agree that Easy Drawing Guides is entitled to some serious compensation.
Yuga Labs has not yet responded to Cryptooshala’s request for comment.
Yuga Labs Settles Lawsuit With Developer Involved In Copying BAYC
The intellectual property dilemma is not new to Yuga Labs. One of the founders of the BAYC-copying NFT collection, RR/BAYC, filed an objection against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs.
In the notice, RR/BAYC co-founder Jeremy Kahen highlighted a list of “grounds to object” to the Yuga Labs documents, stating that the company had “waived any rights” to certain logos and designs due to BAYC NFT sales granting “all rights.” rights” to digital images to the owners.
Credit : cointelegraph.com
