The first step in Kanye West’s legal battle
against the bitcoin cyrptocurrency using his likeness is over. According
to Billboard, the Hip Hop superstar has
successfully forced some of the creators of “Coinye” to halt their plans of
dispersing the digital money.
West sent a cease-and-desist letter to seven anonymous
coders and filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit in January. The currency
was temporarily shut down. When the Coinye creators simply changed their
logo, the Chicago native updated his suit to include over 100 defendants.
Most of the people in the lawsuit were listed as “John/Jane Does.”
This week a few of the named defendants lost the case by
default, because they failed to respond. Named defendants Richard McCord,
David McEnery and Harry Willis settled with the Yeezus rapper.
While this is a victory for West, Hypebot reports
the win in U.S. District Court may not have permanently killed the Coinye
phenomenon. Other brands sporting the Kanye-inspired name are still active including
coinyecoin.org and coinyethecoin.com. The latter site features the tagline,
“When they tell you to cease and desist, increase and resist!”
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