Fashion house Hermes won a lawsuit against the artist who created Birkin NFT bags

Fashion house Hermes won a lawsuit against the artist who created Birkin NFT bags.

The French fashion house is suing artist Mason Rothschild for creating a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with images reminiscent of the famous Birkins bags. The brand considered that the trademark rights were violated. The artist, for his part, insisted that the MetaBirkins collection of 100 fur NFT bags is a work of art and is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. For the first time, the art object was presented at the ArtBasel exhibition in Miami two years earlier.

The federal district court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the fashion house. The jury ordered Rothschild to pay Hermes $133,000 for trademark infringement, brand dilution and cybersquatting (registration of a domain name containing someone else's trademark for the purpose of further use). The court concluded that consumers could be misled by such actions and the brand's trademark rights were infringed.

The artist's lawyer commented on the ruling, saying the day of the ruling is a "terrible day" for artists and the First Amendment. He told reporters that he was going to file an appeal and use all legal avenues to protect Rothschild's rights.

Birkins bags are enduringly popular with consumers and are considered an indicator of the status of the owners. Each bag costs about $10,000, and the brand has already sold about a billion dollars (profit reporting has been submitted to the court). The artist managed to sell NTF or digital Birkins for a million dollars.

The question of whether a non-fungible token is a work of art or an asset is unequivocally decided by an American court, NFT is also an asset and its creators must take into account copyright.

The case was followed by the public and legal professionals to understand how trademark law would apply to the increasingly popular NFTs, which are unique tokens on blockchain networks often used to prove ownership of digital art. There is now precedent to recognize that NFT is falling into right field.

In its lawsuit, Hermes called Rothschild a "digital speculator" and the NFT a "quick cash scheme." The artist, on the other hand, described his work as an absurd statement about high fashion items.

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