Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs has, at last, settled its seemingly eternal lawsuit with artist Ryder Ripps and crypto entrepreneur Jeremy Cahen. The full terms are confidential, but apparently the settlement bars Ripps from using trademarks and images owned by Yuga Labs. This development ends a long-running dispute that began amid the BAYC craze of 2021.
Ripps, who had minted content related to the BAYC project and critiqued it as racist imagery, co-founded the RR BAYC NFT project with Cahen, described on its site as “appropriation art.” It charged about $200 in ETH for an NFT image of a BAYC, and purchasers had to agree that they could not copy the NFT. Yuga Labs sued over false designation of origin, false advertising, cybersquatting, trademark infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, conversion, and tortious interference. In Yuga Labs’ words, Ripps sought to devalue the BAYC NFTs by flooding the market with copycat NFTs using the original BAYC images and calling them “RR BAYC” NFTs.
The trial included exchanges and statements that the defendants made disgraceful remarks about Yuga and its counsel during litigation. The judge ruled in Yuga Labs’ favor in February 2024, ordering the defendants to pay about $9 million. A Yuga Labs spokesperson said, “This isn’t just a win for us, it’s a win for the entire web3 industry to hold scammers and counterfeiters accountable.”
The Ninth Circuit later overturned that ruling, and a document dated April 7, 2026 said the parties have reached an agreement to resolve all claims in this action. Last year, Bored Ape Yacht Club popped back up in the form of a metaverse experience called Otherside. Ripps reiterated that the settlement terms were confidential, and Yuga Labs declined to comment.
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