Craig Wright’s Bitcoin Copyright Claim Was Rejected By A UK Court. Here’s What We Did

Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who self-described Satoshi Nakamoto has had his copyright claim for Bitcoin dismissed by a London court. The judge stated that the subject matter was “not expressed or fixed anywhere”.

In the court rulingJudge James Mellor stated that Bitcoin cannot be considered literary work or protected by copyright due to its “file format”, which includes digital transactions that are combined to create blocks in a blockchain.

“[…] The judge stated that there was no evidence that the Bitcoin File Format was included in any of the software’s early blocks or in the Bitcoin Blockchain. This is in contrast to the Bitcoin Software reading and writing files in this format.

He said that the Bitcoin File Format had not been properly explained and expressed by the claimant. This means it could not be protected by copyright.

“I don’t see any prospect of the law, as it is currently understood and stated in the case law, allowing copyright protection for subject matter that isn’t expressed or fixed anywhere.”

The court repeatedly ruled that no work that described Bitcoin’s unique file format was seen, despite Wright being given ample opportunity to do so.

“It remains the fact that no relevant work has been identified which contains content which defines the structure the Bitcoin File Format,” Judge Mellor stated in the ruling.

“If there is not a serious issue to be considered, I don’t see why any defendant should be subject to this claim.”

Wright is not the first to lose in court

This is not the first time Craig Wright has taken to court to prove his claim to be the creator of Bitcoin, and author of the whitepaper on Bitcoin.

A separate case involving Craig Wright, Hodlonaut, and the bitcoiner popular Hodlonaut was held in Norway in late 2013. The court noted that “the dominant opinion in the media has been, and continues to be, that Wright is unlikely to become Satoshi Nakamoto.”

This ruling by the Norwegian court clarified that Wright’s claim of being Satoshi was protected under free speech laws.

“Against this background, it is believed that the court believes that [Hodlonaut] There are sufficient facts to prove that Craig Wright was not Satoshi Nagamoto in March 2019. […] Wright made a controversial claim and must face criticism from dissenters,” said the ruling.