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Business News Digital Legal
Coinye team throw in the towel after Kanye goes legal
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 15 January 2014
Well, this battle was over quicker than we expected. The people behind the new digital currency, the Kanye West celebrating/mocking (delete as you see fit) Coinye, have closed down their venture after legal pressure from the man himself.
As previously reported, West’s people issued a cease and desist as soon as they got wind of the Coinye venture, arguing that people would assume the currency was endorsed by the rapper, and that it therefore violated his publicity and trademark rights.
The Coinye creators initially seemed keen to go into battle, bringing forward the project’s launch on the basis that, because of the decentralised nature of the way the currency is created, once out on the net it would be impossible to stop. Team Coinye also altered their official name and logo to (very slightly) distance themselves from West.
But, while it might be hard for West to go after the anonymous individuals distributing the Coinye, his lawyers quickly filed litigation citing any website that had indicated it would accept the currency, and Amazon because it hosts some of those sites, as defendants. And if no one dares accept the new digital money, why bother creating it?
The currency’s website now carries the line “COINYE IS DEAD. You win, Kanye”.
So there you go. Now West’s lawyers can concentrate on a reported battery charge the rapper faces after punching a man on Monday, seemingly after said man made racist remarks aimed at Kanye’s better half Kim Kardashian.
