Yuga Labs settles high-profile Bored Ape NFT lawsuit

A major legal fight over digital art and non-fungible tokens has ended with a settlement, according to a court filing, closing one of the most consequential battles over how existing laws apply to these digital assets.

Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, and defendants Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen told a California federal court last week they had agreed to settle all claims. The April 7 document said that the parties will shortly file the proposed stipulated injunctions they reached as part of the settlement.

The case, which began in 2022 and went through trial and appeal, became a test of whether traditional rules about branding and consumer confusion apply to digital goods that exist only online. Courts considered whether NFTs count as products and whether copying their digital images can mislead buyers.

NFTs are digital assets used to verify the authenticity of items online, often tied to images or other media.