- John Terry could be in trouble for promoting NFTs using copyrighted images
- Terry is one of a number of former soccer players promoting Ape Kids Football Club which uses images of famous soccer trophies
- The bodies that run those competitions may take legal action against Ape Kids Football Club
Former England and Chelsea soccer captain and notoriously hideous human being John Terry could be in hot water after promoting NFTs featuring copyrighted images. Ape Kids Club, a collection of annoyingly twee baby apes dressed in various outfits, has a current collection called Ape Kids Football Club, which features images of the apes in football kits alongside trophies such as the Premier League, Europa League, and Champions League. These additions have not gone down well with the bodies representing those trophies, and as a result they are now considering legal action against the owners of Ape Kids Club, which yet again raises the issue of copyright in NFTs.
Ape Kids Football Club Could Breach Copyright Laws
Ape Kids Club launched in mid-2021 and Ape Kids Football Club is one of its more recent incarnations. Terry has been promoting the NFTs alongside other equally hated individuals such as Ashley Cole, but it seems that their actions may have gone down as well as Terry’s occasional bouts of racism in the mid-2000s.
UEFA, which owns copyright to the Europa League and Champions League trophies, said that it “takes the protection of its intellectual property rights seriously” and that it was “investigating this matter further.”
The Football Association has not yet commented on the use of the England badge and various trophies under its intellectual property, while Chelsea is yet to comment on Terry’s promotion of an NFT featuring a Chelsea football kit and badge.
NFT Copyright Issue a Tough Nut to Crack
Terry is currently working for Chelsea football club as an academy consultant where he can teach the club’s young players how to mock American tourists over 9/11 and pretend to have won games he didn’t take part in.
The Ape Kids Football Club shenanigans is another example of the issue of copyright infringement within the NFT sector, with NFT creators often minting and selling images that breach copyright before any action can be taken to protect the owner.
