I want to preface this article by saying these are my opinions, I am in no way an expert on the blockchain. This is a continued effort to understand and progress the technology.
I’ve noticed a consistency in the social commentary on NFTs online. Typically it ranges from “These are the future” to “These are a complete scam” and honestly, I’ve seen evidence that supports both. I figured I’d throw in my more flushed out opinion as an artist, not restricted to SM post limits.
– I’m assuming here that the reader has some basic knowledge of Web3 and NFTs –
Table of Contents
Copyright – Pros
A huge issue is the fact that people/bots have always been able to point-click-save images and videos posted basically anywhere online. While bad for artists posting their work, this did allow for the creation of the meme sharing culture we have all grown quite fond of (simply put it’s not all bad).
The common question is “If I can just copy/save your artwork for free, why would I ever pay money to buy the same thing.” I see other artists actively trying to battle, I believe some developers are attempting to figure out how to essentially stop the copy/save functionality. I have a different view…
Let them take it.
After giving freely, since even before this article was created, we’ve realized the one’s primarily taking are the large scale corporations and interests that don’t deserve free handouts, especially from standalone artists. After seeing how they’ve treated the industry as a whole, we now believe artwork needs to be protected in any way it can be. – Updated 4/12/2024
I believe NFTs will really shine with copyright issues. Creating the token for a piece of artwork through the blockchain essentially posts a public record of it’s creation. It instantly and permanently copyrights your work on a public domain. At that point, the value of the now minted token is no longer based solely on availability or even the original piece of artwork. It becomes its own individual item. I saw a tweet a little while back where someone was talking about how NFTs are separate from the artwork they are made from.
To paraphrase “Even if the physical piece is destroyed, the NFT still remains, still exists.” Once you mint a piece of artwork, copies of the original artwork pretty much turn into a representation of the token. It’s almost like a profile picture. People can copy/save the piece all they want, if they don’t have the token then it is simply just the artwork, not the digitally public intellectual property. If you’re letting people see it for free in the first place, what’s the difference whether it’s on a browser or saved as their desktop wallpaper? As long as it’s not being traded or sold I don’t really see a negative, even at this point people would probably lean to buying the official NFT anyway.
What does an NFT represent?
I think of it like this; everytime I mint an NFT, I’m essentially minting my own cryptocurrency, my own coin if you will. Each NFT can be thought of almost as an altcoin. Essentially, once you create artwork with non-fungible tokens, that token becomes the unique artwork. It literally can’t be copied to the same effect while permanently being tracked and ID’d. The reason this isn’t currently the default system in place to post art online is because it costs money to mint/freeze the metadata through most means.
There are a few networks that offer virtually free minting, I believe Polygon/Matic is one of them but it’s unfortunately not the standard yet. If every image/video put online was automatically put on the blockchain as it was uploaded, the original source could be found very easily. I see this negating most of the issues of online copyright infringement moving into the future, especially once validation services become more developed.
Copyright – Cons
Most of the time the actual artist has no idea this is even happening. Not only does it violate copyright laws but it also slips a toe into identity theft. I’ve seen whole anti-crypto threads full of artists complaining of this. Instead of going after the individuals, the blame gets put on Web3 as a whole.
Funnily enough, the thing that would actually solve this is the thing they are actually being steered away from as a reaction to the problem. If these artists minted their artwork as NFTs right off the bat, any question of copyright could be immediately validated through the blockchain.
One of the few legitimate cons looking into the future will be once the blockchain becomes the go to source for validation, basically whoever puts it up first has the copyright. Really thinking about it though, we already live in that system today… so not a new con but certainly one that will continue.
Collectibles – Pros
Focusing on art, it easily allows for the creation of editions. Editions mirrors the concept of print making which so readily created the massive printing industry we have today. It allowed artists to make money off of copies as opposed to selling 1 piece at a time. I’m pretty sure the time period before this is where the trope of the “starving artist” really comes from and it seems for good reason. This print making effect will absolutely happen in Web3.
On the opposite side of the seesaw, you can also make 1/1 ‘s which creates singular unique NFTs. ‘Limited availability’ seems to be the name of the game, very much like how cryptocurrencies operate naturally. Possibly the most brilliant mechanic is the ability to set creator fee’s. Passive income for artists is often the struggle.
Some exchanges allow you to attach creator fees to collections so when your NFT is sold, even after it’s left your wallet… you will receive whatever percentage you set off that sale. So, for every single sale and trade that NFT will ever go through, the original creator receives that percentage. It creates the availability of receiving royalties from even a single token, this is a game-changer imo.
Collectibles – Cons
You can check your token sure, but checking the entire blockchain for token IDs based off picture similarities doesn’t exist as far as I’m aware. The only way to know for sure is personally purchasing the NFT from the validated creator, or tracking the tokens creation back to the validated creator. This requires a 100% foolproof validation system which, as of writing this, is currently in flux as far as all the Social Media platforms seem to be concerned (the ones who aren’t using theirs for their own corporate popularity VIP clubs anyway).
The last real issue with digital collectibles but one that is being worked on quite rapidly I’m sure, is the presentation of your collected NFTs. While the exchanges do a good job of displaying pieces for viewing and purchase, I have yet to really see an app geared specifically towards the displaying of those items but that probably won’t last long.
As an artistic industry – Pros
By having eager and enthusiastic faces as the spokespeople for these networks it created a really youthful atmosphere which reflects it for what it actually is. The increased sharing is leading to an increased need for places to share it. Ultimately people are seeing more artwork and other’s ideas as a result. While the money making seems to be a hit or miss for people as of now, some people are making a lot of money selling their artwork in this manner. The general, global competition can help artists and artwork develop into more ready and more diverse versions of themselves and having galleries to make digital assets within reach should encourage more art to be made in general.
As an artistic industry – Cons
While I see these influences starting to peak through already, this space has an opportunity to edge out this elitist attitude, if it’s not too late. Just because artwork is subjective doesn’t mean it should be subjective who has mastery of a certain skill set and who makes art with passion and truth versus making something for money, clout, or someone else’s influence. That’s all fine and well if it’s what you’re into, but true artwork should dominate this space in my opinion.
It’s certainly possible that the scene will go the way of most internet groups after long periods of time, which will open the community up to bots and trolls. Bots will be a huge concern as it becomes more profitable to buy/trade assets and subsequently copyright problems could actually get worse if they don’t get some kind of overarching verification system in place. This could very easily devolve into a special club in which case only certain people, groups, and platforms will be allowed to make any money. If it’s not already, I can see it being very easy to control the market for less than ideal ideals.
General Pros
Tons of amazing creative works are being shared globally. As far as sharing media, art and culture I’ve seen quite a bit more of the world through NFTs as well as human individuality represented on a massive scale. As an artist I love seeing all the new things people are making.
There is a healthy feeling of community despite the constant flow of negative entities trying to poison the water hole so to speak. As far as a past time goes, looking at and collecting artwork is healthy, fun, and often profitable. You could be doing a lot worse things with your screen time and money.
General Cons
The industry as a whole is hardly even crawling yet, while some individuals and institutions continuously roll giant boulders at it for fun in the form of scams, bad PR, and illegal business practices. I just recently found this article which describes some of these issues: https://cointelegraph.com/news/lawyer-to-file-crypto-class-action-seeking-billions-from-social-media-cartel. With so many creators in such a new medium, it will be easy for new creators to get passed over because there is only so much space for people’s work to be featured atm.
Until cryptocurrency is fully accepted into mainstream society there will always be a fear of the value dropping out which hampers large investments into the space. I personally feel NFTs will encourage this acceptance, only time can surely tell.
NFTs My View.
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Nfts. Also.
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