French luxury brand Hermes has won a lawsuit against an artist who depicted its famous Birkin bags in a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The artist argued that NFTs should be covered by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but the jury was out.
Hermes wins lawsuit against ‘Metabirkins’ NFT creator
French luxury design house Hermes has won a lawsuit against Mason Rothschild, the artist behind the “Metabirkins” non-expendable token (NFT) collection that features digital renderings of the popular Hermes Birkin bags.
Rothschild created the Metabirkins NFT Collection in 2021, which he described as “a collection of 100 unique NFTs created from faux leather in a range of contemporary colors and graphic executions.” The collection has obtained more than 200 ETH in sales, equivalent to $331,684 at the time of writing. Hermes complained and sued the artist early last year for trademark infringement.
Rothschild argued that NFTs should be covered by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The artist’s defense team compared his work to that of Andy Warhol, who depicted Campbell’s soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles in his artwork. Rothschild argued in court:
These images and the NFTs that authenticate them are not bags. They carry nothing but meaning.
Hermes lawyers have accused Rothschild of “stealing the goodwill of Hermes’ famous intellectual property in order to create and sell its own line of products.” They argued that customers are likely to confuse Metabirkins NFTs with genuine Hermes products. Furthermore, they said that Metabirkins’ URL is too similar to the one used by the luxury brand. Oren Warshavsky, a lawyer representing Hermes, told the court: “The reason for these sales was the Birkin name.”
After deliberating for two days, a New York jury returned a verdict Wednesday saying they “found defendant liable for trademark infringement” and “trademark dilution.” Furthermore, they found that “First Amendment protection does not preclude liability.” The jury then awarded Hermes $133,000 in damages: $110,000 for trademark infringement and $23,000 for cybersquatting.
Do you think the NFT creator should have won this lawsuit? Let us know in the comments section.
image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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