Craig Wright, the self-crowned Bitcoin inventor, won a High Court battle today to get the copyright lawsuit deleted off Bitcoin.org.

Wright Known To Be Bitcoin Inventor Wins Copyright Lawsuit

You’d think that of all sites on the internet, Bitcoin.org would include the Bitcoin whitepaper. That will not be feasible for British citizens for much longer.

Dr. Craig Wright, the self-crowned (and hotly debated) founder of Bitcoin, won a High Court copyright lawsuit today ordering the Bitcoin education site to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper from its website. It is his first victory in attempting to control who sees the Bitcoin whitepaper.

A judge ruled today in a remote hearing that “Cobra,” the pseudonymous operator of Bitcoin.org, must post a notice about the ruling on his website, pay at least £35,000 ($48,600) in legal fees, and delete the whitepaper from his website.

Cobra lost the lawsuit by default; he offered no defense to maintain his anonymity.

Craig Wright Claims To Be The Inventor Of Bitcoin

Wright claimed that Bitcoin.org interfered with his copyright on the whitepaper, which he claims he wrote under the identity “Satoshi Nakamoto.” 

Wright’s larger legal battle to substantiate his claim to be the founder of Bitcoin is still ongoing, even though the community has decisively rejected it.

Cobra stated that the order has yet to be served. “Any further hosting after that will be a breach of the law,” he added. The injunction will not be served until further notice, according to a representative for ONTER LLP, the law firm that advised Wright on the case.

Understanding Bitcoin SV

Bitcoin Core is more well known as Bitcoin, a name Wright believes should be assigned to his (failed) branch of Bitcoin, Bitcoin SV. (The acronym “SV” stands for “Satoshi’s Vision.”)

According to Cohen, Wright feels that Bitcoin Core and its offshoots, such as Bitcoin Cash, misrepresent “the aim for Bitcoin as [Wright] laid forth in his White Paper.”

When word of the unrecorded hearing spread online, the price of Wright’s cryptocurrency, Bitcoin SV, rose by 21%. However, with $2.9 billion in market value, Bitcoin SV is still 224 times smaller than Bitcoin.