British Court Grants Appeal to Craig Wright in Bitcoin Copyright Lawsuit

A British court has granted an appeal to Craig Wright to argue his case in a copyright lawsuit concerning Bitcoin (BTC), according to a recent court filing.

Wright, who has claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin since 2016, has filed a lawsuit against 13 Bitcoin Core developers and several companies, including Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, alleging violations of his copyright on the Bitcoin white paper, its file format, and database rights on the Bitcoin blockchain.

This decision came in contrast to a ruling made in February, which stated that Wright’s arguments were insufficient to establish the initial recording of the Bitcoin file format—a key requirement for copyright protection. 

At the time, the UK Court dismissed Wright’s plea to block the operation of Bitcoin and its fork, Bitcoin Cash, due to intellectual property infringement. 

“The Claimants may consider themselves unlucky to have had their application for leave to serve out come before a Judge with at least some understanding of the technology involved here,” reads the decision from February, denying permission to appeal. 

Wright asserts that the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision blockchain he created from another Bitcoin fork is the authentic blockchain behind the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Nevertheless, whether Wright is indeed the elusive Bitcoin creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, will be determined at a trial scheduled to begin in January 2024.

Witnesses Present Evidence Wright is Not Satoshi Nakamoto

In a previous Oslo case, witnesses presented forensic evidence that questioned the authenticity of documents provided by Wright to substantiate his claim as Nakamoto. 

These documents contained discrepancies, such as fonts that were not available at the time they were allegedly created. 

The Defense Fund, the legal representative for the developers, argues that Wright has failed to provide any evidence to support his claim as Nakamoto. 

They maintain that Wright must establish his identity as Nakamoto before the courts can deliberate on the three primary claims presented in the lawsuit. The trial is expected to take place in early 2024.

It is important to note that the Bitcoin code is open-sourced and distributed freely under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology license, allowing users to reuse the code for any purpose, including proprietary software. 

Wright, on the other hand, contends that the Bitcoin Core developers form a centralized entity, referred to as the “Bitcoin Partnership,” which controls the Bitcoin network. 

Meanwhile, in another blow to Wright’s claim that he is the mysterious Bitcoin creator, a recent investigation provided evidence to suggest that Nakamoto may actually be a collective entity.  

One piece of evidence is the usage of both “we” and “I” in the Bitcoin white paper, indicating the possibility of a team operating under a singular pseudonym.

Another piece of evidence comes from the linguistic analysis of Nakamoto’s writings. 

The white paper showcases impeccable English with precise language and accurate usage of technical terms. But since Nakamoto’s writing style appears to be different in forums and email correspondences, this suggests multiple individuals were involved. 

A linguistic analysis of Nakamoto’s forum posts revealed varying writing styles, further supporting the theory of a collective behind the pseudonym.