Kanye West Lawsuit Killed Coinye

In January 2014, developers launched a Bitcoin alternative called Coinye West that used a cartoon likeness of rapper Kanye West without his involvement. West's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition, cyberpiracy, and dilution. The developers renamed the currency Coinye and replaced the West references with "an unnamed half-man-half-fish hybrid," referencing a South Park joke about the rapper. West sued anyway, prompting the original developers to abandon the project and replace its website with the message, "Coinye is dead. You win, Kanye."

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