Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"

A Texas judge has stated that influencer Logan Paul should be allowed to continue his lawsuit against YouTuber "Coffeezilla," accusing the latter of making defamatory statements regarding Paul's failed CryptoZoo project.

In a report submitted to the federal court in San Antonio on March 26, Judge Henry Bemporad recommended that the presiding judge Orlando Garcia dismiss Stephen Findeisen's request to withdraw Paul's lawsuit, arguing that Findeisen's statements are more akin to factual assertions rather than "merely personal opinions."

"At the pleading stage, the plaintiff [Paul] has sufficiently alleged that the statements at issue in this case could be interpreted as defamatory and are not non-actionable opinions," Bemporad wrote.

"The court should reject the defendant's assertion that Findeisen's statements do not constitute defamation in context," he added.

Paul sued Findeisen in June, claiming that a post made by Findeisen on the X platform and two YouTube videos about his CryptoZoo non-fungible token (NFT) project were malicious and caused reputational harm.

CryptoZoo is considered a blockchain game where players purchase NFT "eggs" that hatch into animals, which players can breed to create unique species and earn tokens based on their rarity. However, the game has yet to materialize.

This is an example of a CryptoZoo NFT animal combining a shark and an elephant. Source: CryptoZoo

Paul claims that Findeisen referred to him as a "serial scammer" and labeled CryptoZoo a "scam" and "a massive fraud," which Paul denies.

Findeisen requested an early judgment from the court last month, claiming that his statements should be viewed as personal opinions and that his videos included disclaimers in the description section to clarify this.

However, Bemporad found that "Findeisen's three statements meet the legal definition of defamation," noting that these disclaimers "are not particularly conspicuous" and can only be seen "when the description is expanded."

He added, "Even if the disclaimers were more conspicuous, they would not substantially change the factual nature of Findeisen's statements."

Paul or Findeisen can file objections to Bemporad's report within 14 days. Lawyers for Paul and Findeisen did not immediately respond to requests for comments outside of business hours.

Findeisen also released three videos about CryptoZoo in 2022, and while Paul did not file defamation claims against these videos, he had previously threatened to sue.

He later withdrew the threat and apologized, and in January 2023, he promised to devise a plan for CryptoZoo—this plan was rolled out a year later, with Paul setting aside $2.3 million for refunds, provided that claimants agree not to sue over the project.

Meanwhile, a group of CryptoZoo buyers has filed a class-action lawsuit against Paul and others they believe were involved in the business, and Paul has requested the court to dismiss that lawsuit. He has also countersued two business partners whom he claims are responsible for the failure of CryptoZoo.

Related: Dark web hackers claim to have over 100,000 Gemini and Binance user information.

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