Simple judgment announced: Bitcoin.org owner must remove Bitcoin whitepaper, pay Craig Wright's legal fees

Australian businessman Craig Wright previously accused Bitcoin.org of unauthorized publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper, claiming copyright infringement and demanding its removal. A summary judgment was issued on June 28, with Bitcoin.org's operator Cobra participating in the hearing online to maintain anonymity, unable to defend himself. The court ruled in favor of removing the whitepaper and ordered the payment of legal fees to Craig Wright.

Australian Satoshi Claims Copyright Infringement

Craig Wright continues to claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, but has shifted his support to Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and later forked out Bitcoin SV (BSV) in 2018. As an Australian national, he is referred to by the community as "Australian Satoshi."

In May 2019, he initially asserted copyright of the Bitcoin whitepaper and in mid-January this year, he demanded major institutions and organizations to take down the whitepaper.

Responses from different parties varied. Bitcoincore.org promptly took down the whitepaper, with core developer Gregory Maxwell stating that it was not worth wasting time on such matters.

Cobra, the operator of Bitcoin.org, chose to continue hosting the whitepaper and urged the community to defend it. This led to a campaign within the crypto community to upload the whitepaper.

Court Ruling

The court granted Australian Satoshi's request, prohibiting the defendants from providing links to the whitepaper in any way, including through bitcoin.org.

They were also ordered to publish a copy of the court order on bitcoin.org for six months and to pay Australian Satoshi's legal fees. However, due to Cobra's anonymous identity, it remains uncertain whether Australian Satoshi will receive the fees.

Cobra's Response

Australian Satoshi's major supporter, Calvin Ayre, warned Cobra on Twitter that the lawsuit is far from over.

In response, Cobra sarcastically stated that he would be happy to pay Australian Satoshi's legal fees and would transfer the amount to an early Bitcoin address that he couldn't possibly own. Cobra appeared visibly displeased on Twitter, criticizing:

All fiat-based assets are protected by the same legal system, today I claim the Bitcoin whitepaper is illegal because a notorious fraud swore in front of a judge that he is Satoshi, "justice" depends only on who has a bigger wallet system.

He mentioned that he would temporarily leave Twitter because it feels terrible when a wealthy individual is determined to bury you in endless and tedious lawsuits.

Prior to this, Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter and founder of Square, established the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to counter Australian Satoshi's copyright claims on the whitepaper, but so far, it seems to have had little practical impact.