Cardano founder copies an NFT artwork, but is this allowed?

Have Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). changed the crypto industry forever. Yet it is unclear to many people what rights they can derive from these unique digital tokens and the images that may be attached to them. Cardano (ADA) inventor Charles Hoskinson sees little point in it and tests the limits.

Cardano founder ‘borrows’ digital artwork

The idea behind NFTs is that each token is basically unique. No one can copy an NFT, because then it is no longer the same NFT. Although an NFT is just information on a blockchain, they often represent a more tangible object like a work of art. These are often simple JPG files, and you can of course just copy them. As a result, it is not always clear who owns a digital artwork and whether it exists in NFT form at all.

Hoskinson doesn’t take it that seriously. He stupidly copied the image of a Todd Brenn artwork and used it as his profile picture on Twitter. He explains that he thinks it’s a nice piece of art, but he didn’t buy the accompanying NFT.

I liked the picture so I used it as my profile picture. The artist and NFT owner don’t mind because it increased the value of their work and product having the historical association with me. I get a cool PFP for a little while. It’s called an economy. Pretty cool isn’t it?

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 3, 2023

Copy NFTs: plagiarism or legal?

The Cardano founder says the artist and NFT owner has no problem with it and that the value of his art is now increasing as it gains more name recognition. From the tweets above, it appears that the person who started the conversation has no problem with it, but that’s not true for everyone.

In another thread on Twitter, Blakelock Brown, the CEO of jpg.store, the largest NFT marketplace on Cardano, writes that he would prefer Hoskinson to buy the original work with the NFT. Hoskinson doesn’t seem open to this, saying he doesn’t buy any intellectual property or sign a contract to show it royalty-free.

This, of course, also provokes a lot of discussion about borrowing rights via NFTs, but they are in any case not legally binding for the time being.

Buy an NFT? I’m not buying the IP nor am I signing a contract giving me royalty free use to display. I don’t think Blake is getting my broader point about the contractual relationships and rights of the purchaser. An NFT is NOT the image anymore than a lithograph is a painting https://t.co/VAzyvezCtx

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 4, 2023