Beeple Faces Copyright Lawsuit After Using Someone Else's Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT Without Permission

Michael Winkelmann, a non-fungible token digital artist known professionally as “Beeple,” has found himself on the edge of a copyright lawsuit after using someone else Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token without permission.

Michael Winkelmann, a non-fungible token digital artist known professionally as “Beeple,” has found himself on the edge of a copyright lawsuit after using someone else Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token without permission. Last year,  the NFT artist risked another lawsuit after illicitly tweeting about Chill Guy, a controversial meme coin anonymously created on the Solana blockchain network.

Beeple Tweets About Bored Ape NFT #8636

In a February 7 blog post, Beeple, through his daily artwork challenge, published a hideous image featuring Pauly and Diddy, the United States rapper, record producer, and artist currently being held in Manhattan remand jail ahead of his upcoming trial on violence and sex trafficking charges. Unfortunately, Beeple has also included a Bored Ape Yacht Club image in his hideous artwork without the owner’s consent.

FUN FACT: The Bored Ape used by @beeple in his hideous Diddy x Pauly artwork is listed for sale rn in OpenSea for 16.49 ETH ($45K)

According to the OpenSea profile, it's owned by @0xCoolman

Beeple rarely uses BAYC pic in his artwork. The only ones he used before are pink ape,… https://t.co/LhoQ7dq3Fu pic.twitter.com/VRi13ssL2F

— JBond (@jbondwagon) February 7, 2025

Beeple is an American digital artist, graphic designer, and animator renowned for creating and selling non-fungible token collections. In his comical artworks, he uses various media to make political and social commentary while using pop culture figures as references. Beeple has been creating art every day since 2007. He has attracted a massive following on X, formerly Twitter, which now has nearly 1 million followers.

In the NFT market, Beeple has created a strong brand to become one of the most prominent figures in the industry. In 2021, Beeple reached a significant milestone in his career after one of his artworks, “Everyday: The First 5000 Days,” sold as an NFT for millions of dollars. In late 2021, Beeple’s NFT Collection was auctioned by Christie’s and sold immediately at $69 million.

Does Beeple Has A Case To Answer?

Based on OpenSea NFT marketplace data, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection #8636, which Beeple has used to create his daily artwork, belonged to renowned NFT trader 0xCool. While answering the question of whether Beeple requested permission to use his artwork, the NFT trader confirmed that Beeple did not seek his permission. It’s uncertain whether 0xCool will file a copyright infringement case against Beeple.

@beeple didn’t request permission from me 👀

— 0xCool (@0xCoolman) February 7, 2025

In November, Beeple narrowly escaped another copyright infringement lawsuit after he tweeted about the controversial Chil Guy meme without Phillip Banks’ consent, the artist behind the viral “Chill Guy” meme. At the time, Banks vowed to take legal action against meme coins using his art. Beeple distanced himself from the meme coin and declared that he had no involvement with the project whatsoever.

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