The iconic wolf skull logo of Bored Monkey Yacht Club (BAYC)Yuga Labs Prime Minister non-fungible tokens (NFTs) collections, was allegedly illegally searched without the proper licenses. The image was originally posted by a company specializing in drawing tutorials for kids and beginners.
NFTs were introduced to the world to help solve illegal use of intellectual property and protect artists, the very problem Yuga Labs has been accused of. Crypto Twitter member and NFT artist @Jdotcolombo came across a mail on April 5, 2021, in which Easy Drawing Guides advertised "an easy step-by-step drawing tutorial" for a wolf skull.
The art displayed by the company closely resembled the official BAYC logo, which initially raised suspicions of wrongdoing, considering that BAYC's Kennel Club collectibles were released on June 17, 2021.
Brother @BoredApeYC @yugalabs what a fucking joke bahahahahaha you have some explaining to do. 4/5/21 and your kennels came out on 6/21 and you went and trademarked this skull. Are they okay or have they hit their heads? https://t.co/HiLFdbnFL5 pic.twitter.com/FJigzJgBr8
โ COLOMBO (@Jdotcolombo) February 17, 2023
Easy Drawing Guides responded to the commotion to confirm that Yuga Labs did not hold a license to use the wolf skull drawing. Taking things a step further, Yuga Labs trademarked the unlicensed logo as their own. In retaliation, Easy Drawing Guides fixed:
"The intellectual property rights of the drawing belong to Easy Drawing Guides, as it is our original drawing and is protected by our Terms and Conditions."
Cointelegraph confirmed that the Easy Drawing Guides terms and conditions grant a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use and access the Website solely for personal, non-commercial use.
On one hand, BAYC supporters believe that no intellectual property was violated by using the logo, however, most agree that Easy Drawing Guides is entitled to significant compensation.
Yuga Labs has not yet responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment.
Related: Yuga Labs Settles Lawsuit With Developer Involved In BAYC Knockoffs
The intellectual property dilemma is not new to Yuga Labs. One of the founders of the BAYC copycat NFT RR/BAYC collection filed a writ of opposition against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs.
![](https://i2.wp.com/s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2023-02/e46462d5-e938-4d7a-9ac7-c844296f682c.png?ssl=1)
In the notice, RR/BAYC co-founder Jeremy Cahen highlighted a list of "opposition grounds" against Yuga Labs' submissions, alleging that the company "gave up any rights" to certain logo designs and artwork due to that BAYC NFT sales granted โall rightsโ to the digital images to the owners.