Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) NFT collection, has come under fire for using an unlicensed image as its logo. The image was originally created by the Twitter account ‘@easydrawinguide’ and was used by Yuga Labs without permission. The creator of the image called out Yuga Labs on Twitter, posting the image’s original post months before the collection launched.
Following the accusations, Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano responded and stated that the BAKC logo would be removed and replaced on the project’s website. He also confirmed that Yuga Labs is launching an investigation into the matter and has reached out to the freelancer it had hired to create the logo’s design for the project.
The Twitter user that brought this issue to our attention is user @Jdotcolombo. Furthermore, the issue has sparked a lively debate on the original thread, with netizens arguing on the art’s origin, whether it truly was a copyright issue, and a discussion on the possibility of two victims in this issue.
Moreover, this isn’t the first time the project has appeared in headline alongside a copyright issue. Last year, Yuga Labs sued Ryder Ripps, an artist in Los Angeles over misuse of its trademarks of its iconic Bored Ape art. So its suffice to say that Yuga Labs is well-aware of the ramifications of copying intellectual property.
Bored Ape Kennel Club
The BAKC NFT collection was released for free to any wallet holding a Bored Ape NFT. It’s a collection of 9,602 dog themed cartoon NFTs that was well-received when it first came out. The most expensive NFT from the collection was sold for over $200,000, signifying its perceived value at the time.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is another NFT collection created by Yuga Labs, which has become incredibly popular, with some of the BAYC NFTs selling for millions of dollars. BAYC has become a cultural phenomenon resulting in the launch of an NFT game project and metaverse project in the same universe.
Final Thoughts
There’s no doubt that the issue is something that investors might find problematic. As we have seen from the response, Yuga Labs looks to take the matter seriously. There is the possibility that the issue will escalate further, possibly damaging the popular NFT collection in unforeseeable ways.
However, it’s yet to be seen how Easy Drawing will respond to the copyright infringement issue. Over the next few days, the community will be watching closely to see if this will affect the sales and price movements of Yuga Labs’ related projects.
Edmond is a passionate writer for Video games, GameFi and Web3. He has worked for top GameFi companies and video game/crypto news websites.
