TL;DR Breakdown
- Bored Ape NFT spinoff Caked Apes ends up in a copyright lawsuit.
- WME signs the BAYC DJ duo Escapeplan zETH and ETHan, under pseudonyms Bored Apes #309 and #4321 respectfully.
Over the previous few months, the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) NFT collection experienced tremendous growth. The expansion has resulted in a series of spinoffs that have ended in a legal battle between digital artists. Artists are suing one another over derivative designs of NFTs and arguing about how to split earnings.
Bored Ape spinoff goes sour
The latest legal dispute hit the world of NFTs in a lawsuit over neon-colored digital portrayals of monkeys covered with cake frosting and candles. A spin-off series of BAYC, called Caked Apes, was launched in January due to the cartoon primate NFTs’ popularity.
Litigation is on the rise in the lucrative world of NFTs, particularly over trademark infringement and property. The BAYC brand has become a status symbol sought after by celebrities in music and sports with more than $1.5 billion in total sales.
According to the writing time, 49 colorful Caked Apes are on OpenSea’s NFT marketplace, with four owners. According to Bloomberg, the team behind each collection is now suing one another over the designs of the caricatures and revenue shares.
CAKED APES SUE TAYLOR WHITLEY
— caked apes (@CakedApes) March 21, 2022
A thread:
From day one, Caked Apes has been a collaborative effort with everyone agreeing up front on the fair compensation based on the value that each team member added to the project. ⬇️
According to media reports, two lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles federal court, claiming the other infringes digital designs. Friday, Taylor Whitley sued four Caked Apes members, alleging they infringed upon his copyright and drove him out of the project.
On Sunday, Jacob Nygard and three of his associates filed a lawsuit against Whitley. They charged that Whitley was attempting to take possession of their collaborative venture. Furthermore, they claimed Taylor used federal copyright law to have the collection removed from internet marketplaces improperly.
According to the complaint, nearly 9,000 Caked Apes NFTs got sold, resulting in $1.9 million in direct sales and $225,000 in secondary sales royalties. The detailed cases are Whitley v. Maguire, 22-cv-01837 and Nygard v. Whitley, 22-cv-00425, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
Bored Ape NFT DJ duo Escapeplan debuts in Hollywood
Despite the legal battle, Bored Apes is making news in Hollywood. WME just signed the Bored Ape Yacht Club DJ duo Escapeplan for all future engagements. The pseudonymous Escapeplan are represented by their Bored Ape NFTs and maintain anonymous identities.
The two Escapeplan members, zETH and ETHan, DJ as Bored Apes #309 and #4321, respectfully. The news followed shortly after electronic musician Dillon Francis confirmed that he would be taking Bored Ape #378 as part payment in a contract with Big Night Entertainment. In addition, BNE operates a number of clubs and manages Escapeplan.
Later this year, the Bored Ape duo will be releasing several songs with Francis. The DJ crew already released their debut song “Jungle” with rapper Rich the Kid. In addition, Tim Bonito, the duo’s manager, believes Escapeplan to be a combination of Web 2 and Web 3 music.
Furthermore, Escapeplan’s video material anticipates to be animated, and it will have a lot of Bored Apes. It’s worth noting that the latest music video for Escapeplan’s song “Jungle” featured 88 Bored Ape NFTs.
The month of March designates with BAYC highlights. On March 14, a Mexican soccer team named Nexaca announced its efforts to sell the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $300,000, with the proceeds going to Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia. BAYC #7851 got sold to a private collector for 330K. The collector then sold it for $345,000 just 24 hours later.
