Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) has grown in popularity since its inception in April 2021, becoming one of the most popular NFT collections available. In fact, the success of BAYC led to the creation of a spin-off line dubbed “Caked Apes”. Caked Apes is an art project by Cake Nygard and Taylor Whitley that consists of 8,888 randomly generated NFTs. The collection, which debuted in January, is now facing its first legal challenge. Caked Apes’ creators have become entangled in an internal feud, culminating in their suing each other over the caricature drawings and the resulting money split.
Taylor Whitley, according to sources, has filed a complaint in federal court in Los Angeles against four members of the Caked Ape team, alleging that they infringed on the digital designs’ copyrights and forced him out of the project. Cake Nygard and three members of the Caked Ape team filed a lawsuit against Whitley in response to Whitley’s complaint, stating that Whitley is attempting to claim ownership of their joint venture.
They claim Whitley “did not submit any original drawings to the Caked Apes pieces.” Furthermore, the Caked Apes team has accused Whitley of abusing federal copyright rules in order to get the collection deleted from online marketplaces. According to the papers, since its launch, 9,000 Caked NFTs have been sold. In addition, it claimed $1.9 million in direct sales and $225,000 in royalties from secondary sales.
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