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Bitcoin (BTC) Legal Battle Heats Up, New Filing Challenges Craig Wright’s Crypto Claims

May 31, 2019

The US Copyright Office has revealed a second copyright registration for the Bitcoin white paper.

The CEO of crypto market research firm Coinsummer, Wei Liu, says he made the filing to show how easy it is to claim ownership of Bitcoin.

Liu told CoinDesk he wants to make it clear anyone can claim they are Bitcoin’s anonymous creator “Satoshi Nakamoto”.

“I filed it just to let people know anyone can register a copyright. Everyone can be Satoshi Nakamoto.”

The copyright office listed Liu’s filing a month after Australian computer scientist Craig Wright submitted his copyright registrations for Bitcoin’s white paper and original code, amid ongoing lawsuits related to his claims that he is the true creator of BTC.

After Wright’s filings were made public, the US Copyright Office released a statement saying it has not officially recognized anyone as the creator of Bitcoin.

“As a general rule, when the Copyright Office receives an application for registration, the claimant certifies as to the truth of the statements made in the submitted materials.

The Copyright Office does not investigate the truth of any statement made. A registration represents a claim to an interest in a work protected by copyright law, not a determination of the truth of the claims therein. It is possible for multiple, adverse claims to be registered at the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office does not have an opposition procedure for copyright registrations, such as the procedures available at the Patent and Trademark Office for patents and trademark registrations.

Disputes over the claims in a registration may be heard before federal courts, including disputes over authorship of a work. Someone who intentionally includes false information in an application may be subject to criminal penalties.”

Meanwhile, in a lengthy tweetstorm, podcaster Peter McCormack maps out his next legal move against Craig Wright who is suing McCormack for 100,000 GBP for libel.

McCormack, host of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, called Wright a “fraud”, challenging the computer scientist’s claim that he authored the Bitcoin white paper, created the Bitcoin code and is the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Since Wright filed the lawsuit last month, McCormack has been appealing to the crypto community for support while fielding pro-bono offers from law firms. He says he intends to pull off a “crushing victory” and will be represented by UK-based law firm RPC.

“This morning we have filed with the court an intention to defend this nonsense lawsuit with the full intention of a crushing victory. While I can cover some of the cost, a solid defence will require a fund, and I am therefore accepting the advice and support of everyone.

Next, I will coordinate a call with a trusted group of Bitcoiners to agree on: – Method of raise – Currencies accepted – Management of funds – Audit of funds – Use of any surplus funds As you can expect, I will want this to be as transparent as possible.

We will build the most vigorous defence possible and use the full weight of evidence that supports us in this case. I will likely require the support of expert developers, cryptographers and OGs to give evidence in support. Thank you to the many offers already received.

I do not believe Craig Wright is Satoshi.”

McCormack says he also believes that Wright, who launched Bitcoin SV as the “real Bitcoin” in November 2018, is waging a sustained and coordinated attack on Bitcoin.

He adds,

“Bitcoin SV is not Bitcoin.”

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