In a final judgment issued by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, Ryder Ripps, along with Jeremy Cahen (Pauly0x), have been ordered to pay NFT company Yuga Labs approximately $9 million. This judgment follows a lawsuit filed by Ripps and Cahen against Yuga Labs, where they had initially sought a settlement payout of $100 billion.
Instead of the desired settlement, the final judgment mandates Ripps and Cahen to pay Yuga Labs nearly $9 million, covering disgorgement of profits, penalties, attorneys’ fees, and other expenses. The ruling comes after a federal judge had previously ruled in favor of Yuga Labs in the dispute against Ripps and Cahen, creators of the “copycat” RR/BAYC collection, in October 2023. The recent motion finalized the penalty sum, totaling $8.9 million, which includes nearly $7 million in attorneys’ fees.
As part of the judgment, Ripps and Cahen are required to surrender the NFTs and transfer any infringing intellectual property, including domain names and smart contracts, to Yuga Labs within the next two weeks. Attempts to reach Yuga Labs and the legal representatives for Ripps and Cahen for comment were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
