Craig Wright Implements Copyright Claim On Bitcoin White Paper

Dr. Craig S. Wright is enforcing his copyright claim on the Bitcoin white paper. The white paper, entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-toPeer Electronic Cash System,” was first published by Wright under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Hence, the ownership of this white paper, which pioneered the Bitcoin design, has always stayed with its author.

Since its publication, the Bitcoin white paper has been spread throughout the World Wide Web and has become a sacred relic that marks the beginning of Bitcoin. However, its creator’s consent has been taken lightly. It comes as a surprise to many that Satoshi Nakamoto has come back to reclaim what is rightfully his.

Dr. Wright’s lawyers sent copyright infringement notices to those hosting the Bitcoin white paper on their websites, which includes the five parties operating bitcoin.org, bitcoin.com and bitcoincore.org. The notices were in accordance with the English Civil Procedure Rules, Pre-Action Protocol for intellectual property claims, and serve to act as a warning that the parties may be sued should they continue to infringe on the copyright.

Responses to the Copyright Infringement Notice

BTC groups had varying reactions to the copyright infringement notice. While bitcoin.com has not responded to the notice yet, BitcoinCore.org immediately removed the Bitcoin white paper from its website. “This site is about Bitcoin Core (and not a specific implementation), not about Bitcoin in general, (so) the whitepaper doesn’t necessarily need to be hosted here,” Core developer Wladimir Van Der Laan stated in a post on GitHub.

Bitcoin.org, on the other hand, refused to cooperate and has condemned BitcoinCore.org for “surrendering” to the notice and that it has “has lent ammunition to Bitcoin‘s enemies, engaged in self-censorship, and compromised its integrity,” just because they may face a lawsuit.

“In this letter, they claim Craig owns the copyright to the paper, the Bitcoin name, and ownership of bitcoin.org. They also claim he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, and the original owner of bitcoin.org. Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org were both asked to take down the whitepaper. We believe these claims are without merit, and refuse to do so,” operator/code contributor “Cøbra” said in an official statement.

It is twisted how the administrator of one of the original Bitcoin websites thinks of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto—the reason why Bitcoin was even introduced into the world and the catalyst that allowed them to become who they are now and achieve what they have with Bitcoin so far.

“BTC didn’t want to go out and make a new sort of cryptocurrency or alternative to Bitcoin. What they wanted to do was ride on the coattails of Bitcoin, yet change all of my original messaging. So, in effect, what they’re doing is fraudulently telling the world that they are Bitcoin,” Dr. Wright said in an interview regarding the Bitcoin white paper.