Photo Credit: Anton Mak / CC by 2.0
Lil Yachty has settled the false representation lawsuit he filed against NFT platform Opulous and Ditto Music last year.
Lil Yachty has settled a trademark infringement lawsuit filed last year against NFT platform Opulous for allegedly using his name and likeness “maliciously” for monetary gain. The rapper sued the Singapore-based platform in a complaint filed with a California federal court, naming additional defendants Ditto Music and Lee Parsons, both companies’ founder/CEO.
The rapper learned that Opulous raised $6.5 million in venture capital funds after releasing “exclusive launch content” from artists, including Lil Yachty, through a partnership with Binance NFT Marketplace. However, Yachty says he did not reap any financial compensation for the launch.
Allegedly, Yachty’s only contact with Opulous was through conference calls with the company’s founder Lee Parsons. These calls did not mention an agreement or deal, but the NFT company pushed forward with the series, allegedly using the rapper’s photos for marketing.
“There were no further communications between the parties, and accordingly no agreement or deal terms,” reads the lawsuit. Despite this, in June 2021, the defendants allegedly launched “a press and advertisement campaign falsely representing” that Lil Yachty was “affiliated, connected, and associated” with Opulous.
“It is axiomatic that in order to offer the ownership interest to any musician’s copyrighted work, defendant Opulous must first have the agreement and consent of the musician at issue to sell the copyright to his or her work, with the musician in turn entitled to a share of the proceeds from the sale thereof,” the lawsuit reads.
While the lawsuit has been settled as of April 11, the exact terms of the settlement have yet to be disclosed. Lil Yachty was seeking “damages, profits, and funds” raised attributable to defendants’ wrongful conduct” and injunctive relief. Still, it has been discussed that all involved parties had 45 days to “confirm the settlement in writing and file a dismissal of the action.”