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Ask HN: Does buying an NFT grant you any copyright rights?

by oliverjudge on 4/29/21, 8:06 PM with 14 comments

• by abzolv on 4/29/21, 8:26 PM

  There is no purpose to owning an NFT. It's a scam.

• by smt88 on 4/29/21, 8:16 PM

  Think of NFTs as trading cards. They have no intrinsic value or link to their subject. Anyone can make an NFT of anything.

  You don't own Steph Curry (or any of his earnings) by buying his card. You just own his card.

  Now, Steph Curry could certainly sell a share of his earnings along with a trading card, but you would be relying on the legal system and contract law to own those earnings, not really the card itself.

• by saluki on 4/30/21, 2:16 AM

  Euler Beats NFT gives the owner of the originals a copyright to their 'record'.

  https://eulerbeats.com/about

  Owning Originals Buyers of Originals shouldn’t need any more incentive other than the historical significance and the uniqueness of the art + music EulerBeats NFTs. That said, all EulerBeats Original holders will receive 8% of the print price on each print sold of the original token they own. The royalties are paid automatically as they are programmed into the smart contract and cannot be changed. In addition to the royalties, holders of Originals have full commercial rights. Some Genesis original owners have already created remixes and collaborations with other projects.

• by abzolv on 4/29/21, 8:21 PM

  No. Copyright of the work is not generally transferred to the buyer of the NFT. You're buying a cryptographic pointer (URL) to the work, not the work itself.

  https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/beeple-auction-christie...

  "However, with NFTs, the owner typically does not get the copyright and can’t collect royalties from the art. That usually remains with the artist."

• by aranchelk on 4/29/21, 8:56 PM

  Copyright ownership is ultimately determined by the courts. My understanding is about the best you could do today is have the author assign the copyright to a dedicated organization that would act as a proxy. Have associated legal contacts that specify that control of the copyright is determined by the blockchain. Even then that would all have to get tested in court and get some precedent in place before I'd trust it.

  > If no copyright is transferred what is the purpose of owning an 'original' meme which is most likely also a copy?

  Hmmmm... Please don't ask questions like that, you're bumming everyone out.

• by tldrthelaw on 4/30/21, 10:01 PM

  Only if the copyright is sold along with the NFT. Think of the NFT as an entire being bought/sold, not anything describing the transaction or the legal framework itself. The NFT "seller" might not even hold the copyright.

  So does buying a 1992 Honda Civic from a guy give you the right to make more 1992 Honda Civics (not quite 1:1 with copyright, but you get the idea) -- no. Could Honda sell you a 1992 Honda Civic and also the right to make more 1992 Honda Civics? Sure.

• by detaro on 4/29/21, 11:03 PM

  An NFT without any legal framework doesn't mean anything.

  Some NFT platforms have legal licenses that e.g. state that the holder of the NFT gets some specific (possibly exclusive) rights to the connected artwork.

  re "copyright rights", depending on what you mean by that note that with a traditional painting being sold the buyer also does not get to do whatever they want with the image, since the original copyright remains with the author. (e.g. you can't take a painting you bought and sell prints of it)

• by emmap21 on 5/1/21, 8:25 AM

  You don't own the work itself, but a certificate issued by a third party for that work.

  This means,

  * Everybody still can copy and distribute it without your permission.

  * No protection by Law/ Policy in Digital World. I don't know if NFT will do that for you on behalf.

  * Like many others say, they trade NFTs, but not the work itself. Say, NFT of 50 Million valuation between two entities. Very fancy numbers ...similar to a board game.

• by abzolv on 4/29/21, 8:35 PM

  There is no guarantee that the work will continue to exist at the URL.

  You could own a very expensive URL that goes to 404 - Not Found.

• by Finnucane on 4/29/21, 8:19 PM

  Buying a piece of art doesn't give you any part of the copyright in the art. The artist can retain that.

• by iab on 4/29/21, 8:07 PM

  I’m also curious about this