Kanye West's lawyers file cease-and-desist against Coinye creators

Lawyers for American rapper Kanye West have filed a cease and desist letter against the makers of Coinye.

Coinye is a Bitcoin-like digital currency that generated Internet chatter last week.

The currency, at the time of its announcement, did not have West's sign-off, and was called 'Coinye West,' PC World reports.

According to the report, its logo featured a cartoon image of West's head emblazoned on a gold coin.

It was partly designed to bring a more consumer-friendly alternative to Bitcoin for non-tech savy people.

The founders at the time of its announcement said that West's trend setting abilities and originality helped to inspire it.

Now, attorneys for the law firm Pryor Cashman allege copyright infringement, among other claims.]

According to the report, West's legal team as asked the developers of the technology to stop using West's name, image or likeness in connection with any product or service, deactivate the Coinyewest.com website, and all social media accounts created or used in connection with the digital currency.

The name of the technology has since been changed to just "Coinye."

The logo has also been changed and now features a different image of a man with crooked teeth and a fish tail coming out the back of his head.

The domain for the technology's website has been changed to be registered in India.

The name of the technology and graphic was changed to make it clear that West himself had nothing to do with the project, the developers said Tuesday via email, the report added.