The French luxurious model Hermes has filed a lawsuit against an artist who produced a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT) depicting its famous Birkin Bag. The artist’s lawyers argued that the NFTs should be protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, however the jury disagreed.
Hermes Launches Court Action Against MetabirkinsNFT Creator
French luxurious design house Hermes commenced legal proceedings against Mason Rothschild, the artist behind the artwork known as the ‘MetabirkinsNFT collection’. The NFT set contains digital renderings of the popular Hermes Birkin bag.
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 generated over 200 ETH in total sales, equivalent to $331,684 at the time of writing.
Rothschild’s legal team argued that his NFTs should be covered by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. They compared his work to that of Andy Warhol, who included Campbell’s Soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles in his paintings.
These photos and NFTs that authenticate them cannot be considered bags – they can’t carry anything else.
Hermes lawyers 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 clients were likely to mistake Metabirkins NFTs for genuine Hermes merchandise. Furthermore, they noted that the URL for Metabirkins was too similar to that of 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 on Wednesday, finding the defendant liable for trademark infringement and trademark dilution. The jury also found that “First Amendment protection does not preclude liability.” They awarded Hermes $133,000 in damages: $110,000 for trademark infringement; $23,000 for cybersquatting.
Do you think the NFT creator should have won this lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
