NFTs: Cloned vs Unique Artwork
Developers are cloning and republishing popular Ethereum NFT collections in multiple other smart contracts networks.
Sometimes, the concept may be similar, or the project reuses parts of other collections, while other times, the images are just the same with minor differences.
Developers will frequently select a successful concept, usually those NFTs that create high volumes on Ethereum, and alter it slightly to present it to the audience of different blockchains such as Polygon, Solana, and smartBCH.
Cryptopunks and BAYC are two of the most popular NFT collections of all time which have been replicated in almost every other smart contract network.
Sometimes though, the similarities of an NFT concept may also present a clear case of plagiarized art as it happened on multiple occasions.
Copyright and NFT Collections
This article does not accuse any NFT collection. A loose representation of NFT copyright exists in the current community today. Although, as corporations begin acquiring more NFTs, NFT imitations containing plagiarised art will encounter challenging legal issues.
To be more specific, once the owners of NFTs decide a cloned collection constitutes a threat to the value of the NFTs of their collection, then it will be a case the courts will decide.
Regarding the copyright of NFTs, it is still undecided if an NFT grants copyright ownership to the owner of the NFT.
The copyright, according to the current laws, should belong to the author, although, these are images not just on display on the internet but for sale.
The law states that copyright of this image belongs to the artist that created it (in this case, "Chu") and not the owner of the NFT (in this case, me). What we own is the metadata, not the art. At least, this is how the law interprets NFTs today. According to copyright law, we are not allowed to republish copyrighted content unless we have written permission or the use of this material falls under the guidelines of fair use.
Rather absurd law, one might think.
Still, it is the same as with audio and video copyright. Music and audio purchases don't transfer copyright. The owner of a movie on a Blueray disc is not allowed to profit from this movie by putting it on display in a commercial way. The owner is allowed to resell Bluray disc but not display the copyrighted content for profit or reuse it to create any different content.
Copyright even in NFTs belongs to the original artist, not the owner of an NFT.
On most occasions NFTs as treated similarly to other forms of digitized art.
No matter the loose copyright NFT regulations, the artists that find their work plagiarised into other collections may react at some point.
How it works today:
Reapers is a unique collection in terms of artwork launched on smartBCH.
What would happen if someone copies Reapers and creates it again on smartBCH?
Probably it will completely fail and sell nothing.
However, let's hypothesize that suddenly a popular NFT creator on Ethereum decides to clone (plagiarise) Reapers NFT and present Reapers on OpenSea.
It wouldn't be ethical, would it? The purpose of the developer, in this case, is to replicate something successful from a small network and present it to a large audience as unique. It could still help Reapers on smartBCH though, by attracting more attention to the original project and design.
That would be a free advertisement, although it might get away initially until discovered.
Copies will exist but will always maintain less value than the original.
Will the collectors have a problem if copyright strikes begin in the NFT field? Probably, everyone should be concerned about the price. Especially those NFTs worth millions of dollars and only present a replica of artwork on another network.
Will the developers of the cloned NFTs be in trouble in the future?
It is difficult to predict since NFTs and Web3 are modern technologies. The courts will decide and create historic decisions that will become the foundation for future legislation on this matter.
For the time being, as corporate greed is not yet manifested widely in the NFT field, the conditions are not strict. We should expect cases with class action lawsuits, though, in the future.
Value of an NFT
The smart contract and the community (the collectors) provide more value to a particular work than the art itself on most occasions. The traits and rarity of each NFT also count.
A smart contract identifies a collection and all the art it contains in the form of NFTs. This is also the reason nobody legally persecutes cloned NFTs in the scene.
The contract represents the originality of the art.
In Conclusion
The art concepts we find in smartBCH are either unique or based on other collections, but maybe not complete clones of the artwork of popular Ethereum NFTs. Just as with any other smart contract blockchain, we find unique art, and we find plagiarised art as well.
Some of the original smartBCH collections on smartBCH include artists presenting unique artwork and perspective.
Yet, we also encounter projects that don't even hire artists but only clone successful collections from other blockchains.
It is easy to establish success on an already successful procedure, however, with time, there could be legal implications, especially when parts of the art are identical and not just a concept resembling another original piece of artwork.
We can select to support any project on smartBCH, but since NFTs are based on art, it could be prudent to protect and assist artists creating unique concepts.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Material published in this content, is used for entertainment and educational purposes and falls within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of images used in this article, and have an issue with the use of said material, please notify me.
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My dream i will be in NFT market place. I will buy and sell NFT.