NFTs
Judge allows ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs to be displayed at Stockholm Museum
Reversing course on a ruling made in March, a US district judge in the Southern District of New York has ruled that MetaBirkin NFTs can be displayed in a museum exhibition in Stockholm this fall.
Tuesday’s ruling by Judge Jed Rakoff is the latest courtroom tangle between Hermes International and the artist “Mason Rothschild”. Last year, Hermès won the trademark infringement case against the artist, whose name is Sonny Estival, for his “MetaBirkin” NFTs which are colorful non-fungible tokens inspired by faux fur Birkin bags.
The French luxury house took him to court for creating and selling 100 MetaBirkins in November 2021. Hermès successfully challenged the NFTs confused consumers, diluted the brand and impacted its ongoing plans to NFTs. In their defense, Rothschild and his legal team insisted that the two-dimensional digital tokens were a commentary on the fur-free fashion initiative, an experiment to replicate the Lux the perceived value of the scholarship and an act of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment.
Following last year’s unanimous decision by a nine-person jury, Rakoff issued a permanent injunction against Mason Rothschild for further infringements of Hermès trademarks. In March, a US District Court judge banned the artist from displaying the digital tokens in an upcoming exhibition at the Spiritmuseum in Stockholm. That decision was based “on the absence of assurances that such use would not lead to further confusion about whether the Estival NFTs were sponsored or approved” by Hermès, according to the court order.
On Wednesday, Rakoff allowed the MetaBirkins to be featured in the Stockholm exhibition, provided that the artist and the museum agree to prominently disclose to museum visitors that a jury unanimously concluded that Estival intentionally designed his NFTs to confuse the public into believing that they were from somehow sponsored by Hermès.
It is not immediately known whether the artist, whose first child will be born in the coming weeks, will travel to Stockholm for the opening of the exhibition. A date for oral argument for his appeal in Second Circuit court has not yet been set, according to the artist’s attorney, Rhett Millsaps II of Lex Lumina.
A lawyer for Hermès, Gerald Ferguson of Baker Law, did not respond to a media request on Wednesday, nor did two Hermès executives on Wednesday.
Located in Stockholm on the island of Djurgården, the Spritmuseum bills itself as “dedicated to Swedish drinking culture” and as “the permanent home of the internationally famous Absolut Art Collection.” The museum bills itself as offering pop-cultural, culinary and tasting experiences.
During the evidentiary hearing in March, Spritmuseum’s Mia Sundberg, who is a curator at Absolut Art Collection, testified that a disclaimer would be included in the program. In a statement filed with the court in late April, she said the museum would prominently display text on the wall that read: “A jury in New York unanimously concluded that Mr. Rothschild intentionally designed his NFTs to confuse the public by making -the believe that they were in some way sponsored by Hermès, when in fact they were not.”
Sundberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
However, she indicated that the Spritmuseum would still like to present Rothschild’s “MetaBirkins” on a computer screen, as part of the exhibition curated by Blake Gopnik “Andy Warhol: A Portrait of Commerce”, when it opens in October. Sundberg told WWD in mid-March: “We do not want to cause further legal difficulties for Mason Rothschild. However, I’m not sure whether the American judge or even Mason Rothschild himself can prohibit us from putting a computer in an exhibition in Stockholm and showing the images on the Internet, where they already exist for everyone to see.”
This isn’t the only Birkin-related legal dispute Hermès is facing. Two California residents, Tina Cavalleri and Mark Glinoga, filed an antitrust lawsuit lawsuit and unfair trade practices against the luxury house for allegedly tying the purchase of its popular Birkin bags to the purchase of Hermès luxury clothing and accessories. At Hermès’ annual shareholder meeting, executive chairman Axel Dumas was quoted as saying: “Obviously, we strictly respect antitrust laws wherever we operate and will vigorously defend ourselves in this case.”
Named after the actress and musician Jane Birkin, the Birkin was launched in 1984 after she suggested to a Hermès executive on an international flight the need for such a large luxury bag. Last year’s MetaBirkins test offered a window into the business of luxury, including the fact that Hermès sells more than $100 million worth of Birkin bags every year, and has done so for the past decade.