Key Takeaways
- Artist Ryder Ripps and business associate Jeremy Cahen reached a settlement with Yuga Labs ending their two-year legal battle over derivative Bored Ape NFTs
- Ripps’ RR/BAYC collection incorporated Bored Ape Yacht Club visuals, which he defended as satirical expression and constitutionally protected artwork
- Yuga Labs initially secured close to $9 million in damages from a district court judge, though an appellate court reversed this decision
- Under the settlement agreement, both Ripps and Cahen face lifetime prohibitions on utilizing Yuga’s intellectual property and brand assets
- Financial details of the settlement remain confidential
The legal confrontation between Yuga Labs and artist Ryder Ripps has concluded with a settlement agreement. The dispute originated from an NFT project that replicated visual elements from the Bored Ape Yacht Club franchise.
🚨UPDATE: @yugalabs has settled the Bored Ape NFT lawsuit over RR/BAYC copycat claims, avoiding trial and ending the dispute over alleged parody tokens of Bored Ape Yacht Club. pic.twitter.com/rr6AD7yNJB
— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) April 8, 2026
Yuga Labs initiated legal proceedings in 2022. The company alleged that Ripps and his associate Cahen marketed similar tokens branded as RR/BAYC, generating substantial revenue by misleading purchasers into believing these digital assets had affiliations with the authentic collection.
Ripps contested these allegations. He characterized his work as “expressive appropriation art” and maintained it represented satirical commentary shielded by First Amendment protections. He further alleged that the original Bored Ape Yacht Club contained concealed racist and antisemitic symbolism within its designs, claims Yuga dismissed as elements of a targeted harassment effort.
During 2023, U.S. District Judge John Walter ruled in Yuga’s favor. His decision determined that the derivative tokens created potential for marketplace confusion and infringed upon Yuga’s trademark protections.
Walter’s order required Ripps and Cahen to remit approximately $9 million covering profit disgorgement, damages, and attorney costs.
Appellate Court Intervention
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit subsequently reversed that determination. Although the appellate panel rejected significant portions of Ripps’ fair use defense, it eliminated the $9 million financial penalty and mandated a jury trial to evaluate whether consumers experienced genuine confusion.
Legal observers consider the Ninth Circuit decision a landmark ruling establishing that NFTs qualify for trademark law protection.
The current settlement eliminates the need for any jury trial. Documentation submitted to California federal court includes proposed injunctions that would impose lifetime restrictions preventing Ripps and Cahen from utilizing Yuga’s trademarks or visual assets in future endeavors.
The monetary components of the settlement were kept private.
Context About the Involved Parties
Ripps had previously generated controversy by asserting he eliminated the private keys controlling the RR/BAYC project. Yuga subsequently petitioned the court to impose sanctions regarding this statement.
Cahen, who operates online under the handle Pauly0x, had launched an NFT trading platform titled Not Larva Labs. This name alluded to Larva Labs, the original developers of CryptoPunks. Yuga Labs previously held ownership of the CryptoPunks intellectual property portfolio.
Bored Ape Yacht Club emerged as among the most prominent NFT franchises during the digital collectibles boom. The series attracted high-profile celebrity collectors and achieved record-breaking valuations within the NFT marketplace.
The prolonged legal confrontation concluded with the settlement documentation filed on April 8, 2026.
