UK High Court judge says Craig Wright lied ‘extensively and repeatedly’ in COPA lawsuit over Satoshi, Bitcoin copyright claims
Quick Take Craig Wright lied “extensively and repeatedly,” in addition to presenting “fabricated” evidence of his claims to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s name and inventions, a UK Judge said Monday in a written judgment. UK prosecutors could bring perjury charges against Wright.
Craig Wright lied “extensively and repeatedly” in a trial over his various copyright claims to Bitcoin BTC +2.22% ’s code and whitepaper, UK High Court Judge James Mellor said Monday in a written judgment.
In the filing, Judge Mellor elaborated on his ruling in March that Wright, who claims to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, is not the pseudonymous developer. The judgment cited Wright's “clumsy… fabrications” and “forgeries” of documents “on a grand scale” as the basis for the ruling.
“All [Wright’s] lies and forged documents were in support of his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto,” Judge Mellor said Monday in the written judgment.
The ruling concludes a years-long legal battle over the intellectual rights to the Bitcoin blockchain and database. During the trial, the defense submitted to the court evidence that “purported[ly]” supported Wright's claims of being Satoshi, including documents featuring fonts that didn't exist at the alleged time of their creation, as well as metadata that showed some of the documents were created shortly before the trial, according to the judgment.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) first filed a lawsuit against Wright in February 2021, aiming to prevent the infamously litigious Wright from asserting unmerited copyright claims over the Bitcoin whitepaper and code.
Since 2019, Wright has sued several developers to gain ownership over the Bitcoin network and silence critics of his claims. According to the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund, those lawsuits have threatened the future of Bitcoin by disincentivizing developers from building on the blockchain.
In his judgment, Judge Mellor acknowledged the effect of Wright’s aggressive legal strategy on Bitcoin developers, citing the self-proclaimed Satoshi’s litigious nature as another basis for his ruling in favor of COPA.
“Due to his collaborative and non-confrontational nature, I consider it is most unlikely that Satoshi would ever have resorted to litigation against the Developers," Judge Mellor said. “Satoshi would have recognised that differences in views led to the hard forks in the Bitcoin Blockchain and moved on.”
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