The creator of the art used in the viral “Just a chill guy” meme threatened to take legal action against memecoins that use the image.
On Nov. 15, the Just a chill guy (CHILLGUY) token was launched on the Solana network. The token became popular, reaching a market capitalization of $580 million at one point. The memecoin trades at $0.40, with a market cap of $400 million, at the time of writing.
Chill guy memecoin chart. Source: GeckoTerminal
Still, the creator of the art used in the memecoin discouraged its use for crypto-related endeavors and threatened legal action against crypto tokens using his art without permission.
Chill Guy art creator threatens legal action against tokens
On Nov. 21, the artist who goes by “PhillipBankss” on X posted that he copyrighted the meme character “Chill Guy” and will issue takedowns on for-profit usages in the next few days.
Source: PhillipBankss
The artist said he did not care about brands using the character to ride the trend, but would go after “unauthorized merchandise and shitcoins.” On Nov. 18, the artist clarified that he neither endorsed nor consented to his art being used in “crypto.”
Cointelegraph reached out to PhillipBankss but did not get an immediate response.
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Community responds to Chill Guy art creator
While PhillipBankss may have threatened to take legal action against the memecoin, community members say the artist will not have any luck going after something based on the blockchain.
One community member pointed out that taking legal action may be “nearly impossible” for tokens launched anonymously and decentralized. Another X user posted a similar sentiment, saying that the crypto token is now immortalized on the blockchain. The community member said the memecoin would exist with or without the artist.
Source: UltimaHoarder
Meanwhile, some X users said the artist should use the opportunity to make money. A community member suggested that the artist make a non-fungible token (NFT) auction and “make bank,” while another said to “take the money and retire peacefully.”
Still, some defended the artist’s decision, saying that he is an artist and “not a scammer.”
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