As well as feeling majorly ripped off from Grammy nominations, Kanye's latest tanty is a legal one and we couldn't be more excited.
A start up company developed a digital currency called "Coinye West" which features a cartoon image of a face that strongly resembles the rapper. No permissions for use of the image or name were sought from Kanye and his lawyers have issued a cease and desist letter. They allege trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition and cyberpiracy. The gist pretty much being that the "Coinye West" label is too similar to the "Kanye West" trade mark and Coinye shouldn't be able to free-ride off the goodwill and fame associated with the Kanye West name.
While the company since changed its name from Coinye West to simply Coinye, its recent tweet "WHO GON STOP ME HUH" would indicate that it isn't taking the threats all that seriously.
Serious infringements of the US trade mark laws can entitle the plaintiff to treble the amount of damages. Moving the Coinye website to an Indian domain doesn't place the creators beyond the reach of the US law either.
If this was all happening in Australia, Coinye would be in a world of pain. While nobody owns the rights to their own image, Kanye is a lucrative commercial brand (among other things) and there is a clear risk of confusion being created in the public mind about whether he endorses or is connected with the Coinye business. We don't think Bitcoin needs to worry too much about this particular competitor.
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