Beeple faces lawsuit for illegally tweeting about a bored ape NFT

Renowned digital artist Michael Winkelmann, professionally known as “Beeple,” is at risk of copyright litigation for using someone else’s Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token without permission. Last year, the NFT artist also risked another lawsuit after illegally tweeting about Chill Guy, a controversial meme coin created anonymously on the Solana blockchain network.

Beeple mentioned Bored Ape NFT #8636 in his tweet
In a blog post on February 7, Beeple released a disgusting image through his daily art challenge that features Pauly and Diddy, an American rapper, record producer, and artist currently incarcerated at the Manhattan Detention Jail awaiting his upcoming trial on violence and sex trafficking charges. Unfortunately, Beeple also used an image of the Bored Ape Yacht Club in his disgusting work without obtaining the owner's consent.

Fun fact: The Bored Ape Beeple used in his disgusting Diddy x Pauly artwork is being sold on OpenSea for 16.49 ETH ($45,000). According to OpenSea, the owner of the artwork is 0xCoolman. Beeple rarely uses images of BAYC in his artwork. He has only used images of the Pink Ape before. https://t.co/LhoQ7dq3Fu pic.twitter.com/VRi13ssL2F
— JBond (@jbondwagon) February 7, 2025

Beeple is an American digital artist, graphic designer, and animator known for creating and selling non-fungible token collectibles. In his humorous artwork, he uses various media to make political and social comments and uses pop culture figures as references. Beeple has been creating art every day since 2007. He has attracted a large number of fans on X (formerly Twitter) and now has nearly 1 million followers.

In the NFT market, Beeple has built a strong brand and become one of the most important figures in the industry. In 2021, Beeple achieved a major milestone in his career when his work "Everyday: The First 5000 Days" sold for millions of dollars as an NFT. At the end of 2021, Beeple's NFT collection was immediately auctioned at Christie's for $69 million.

Does Beeple need to bear legal responsibility?
According to data from the OpenSea NFT market, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection #8636 that Beeple used to create his daily artwork belongs to the well-known NFT trader 0xCool. In response to the question of whether Beeple requested the use of his work, the NFT trader confirmed that Beeple did not ask for his permission. It is not yet certain whether 0xCool will file a copyright infringement lawsuit against Beeple.

@beeple didn't ask me for permission
— 0xCool (@0xCoolman) February 7, 2025

Last November, Beeple nearly found himself in a copyright infringement lawsuit after he tweeted the controversial "Chill Guy" meme without the consent of artist Phillip Banks. At the time, Banks vowed to take legal action against memecoins that used his artwork. Beeple distanced himself from the memecoin and declared himself in no way associated with the project.