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Kanye West Wins Coinye Lawsuit

Yeezy gets a default judgment in crypto-currency case after defendants failed to respond.

Kanye West refused to be a new slave to the anonymous group of creators of the crypto-currency Coinye West, and won.

A U.S. District Court judge in New York ruled in Yeezy's favor, according to paperwork filed last week on July 22, reports Billboard. It was a default judgment however, as most of the defendants remained hidden.

Yeezy had almost immediately filed a cease-and-desist after the crypto-currency's site had a soft launch in January. The digital money not only bore resemblance to his name, but the fish logo was adorned in those shutter-shade sunglasses that he and his Dropout Bear wore circa Graduation

"We want to release this to the public before the man can try to crush it," one of the coders had told the Wall Street Journal.

Yeezy's lawyers put the group on notice. "Given Mr. West's wide-ranging entrepreneurial accomplishments, consumers are likely to mistakenly believe that Mr. West is the source of your services." 

By March, however, the strongly-worded letter hadn't worked, so Yeezy and team filed an amendment, including the names, emails, and more background information on the creators, who "cowardly sought to remain anonymous by using Registry privacy services and other means."

Apparently, the group was spread worldwide, including coders in the U.S., China, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Slovakia; only three actually responded to the lawsuit, Richard McCord, David McEnery and Harry Willis.

The lawyer for McCord, of California, said it was "unfortunate that a parody turned into such an expensive endeavor."

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(Photo: PacificCoastNews, Courtesy  CoinyeCoin)

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