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Opulous says Lil Yachty lawsuit is “meritless”

By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 3 February 2022

Music NFTs start-up Opulous has responded to a lawsuit filed by Lil Yachty, insisting that the claims in that legal filing are “meritless” and that the company will defend itself “vigorously”.

Opulous is a music-centric fin-tech and NFTs platform launched by the founders of Ditto Music. Specifically in the NFTs space, it has launched a fan-funding product that allows investors and fans to pledge money to an artist linked to an upcoming track and to then share in any royalties said track subsequently generates. That royalty right is logged on the blockchain as an NFT and then administered by Ditto, which distributes the music.

The service properly launched last year with an NFT drop involving Lil Pump and Soulja Boy. However, prior to that in pre-launch communications the start-up identified Lil Yachty as an artist set to be involved in the venture.

In his lawsuit, the rapper claimed that he had not, in fact, agreed to work with Opulous. He and his management team had had a couple of meetings with the firm’s founder Lee Parsons and Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Cruz, but those were basically introductory meetings and did not result in Lil Yachty making any commitments to the company.

Therefore, by mentioning him in its formal communications, the NFTs start-up was “falsely representing that plaintiff, Lil Yachty, was affiliated, connected and associated with the Opulous platform”.

Not so, says Opulous. In a short statement responding to last week’s lawsuit the firm says: “Contrary to the assertions in the complaint filed by Lil Yachty, Opulous’s uses of Lil Yachty’s name and likeness were all authorised by Lil Yachty and his representatives. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these meritless claims”.

We look forward to seeing that vigorous defence in full.