Artists Level ‘Neo-Nazi’ Claim in Yuga Labs NFT Trademark Suit

Artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen asked a federal court to dismiss a trademark infringement lawsuit by Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, calling the suit an attack on their First Amendment rights.

“This lawsuit is an attempt to silence an artist who used his craft to call out a multi-billion-dollar company built on racist and neo-Nazi dog whistles,” the artists argued in an Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation motion to the US District Court for the Central District of California. The filing claimed that Ripps “used consensual art to critique hateful imagery” that’s prevalent ...