Yuga Labs has officially released the long-anticipated CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights to holders this week, granting these holders full commercialization and personal rights.
In a long-anticipated moment, Yuga Labs officially announced the release of CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT intellectual property (IP) rights to holders. The IP licensing agreement would give holders of both collections full commercialization and personal rights to their respective NFTs.
The CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights would grant holders the freedom to use their assets for any endeavor they choose. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT holders enjoy the same privilege. All three NFT projects are under the Yuga Labs umbrella.
Full Extent of CryptoPunks and Meebits IP Rights
Eventually, holders of CryptoPunks and Meebits would be free to use their NFTs to create projects for profit like “TV shows, food trucks, clothing, and more–just like the Bored Ape Yacht Club community has been able to do,” said Yuga Labs.
For example, “Austin Powers” actor Seth Green will launch a TV show starring his Bored Ape, which was stolen and recovered several months ago. Then, there is the Bored Ape-themed restaurant in Los Angeles, Bored & Hungry, which Andy Nguyen and Snoop Dog launched in June.
According to Yuga Labs, the official agreement for the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights for NFT holders is now live, and the main goal is to do the right thing for the communities. Such rights have long been a sour subject for some CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT owners since the projects’ previous owner, Larva Labs, handled IP licensing differently.
Larva Labs held back from allowing NFT owners to use their assets commercially. The company retained the IP rights to the collections, much to the disappointment of many holders. Such is not the case with Yuga Labs.
With Yuga Labs, the IP is licensed to NFT holders, although the company owns the rights. And when Yuga Labs purchased CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs in March, they intimated giving holders full commercial rights to their NFTs.
However, while the commercial licensing agreements of BAYC, CryptoPunks, and Meebits are similar, the one for the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights is longer than BAYC’s in the literal word count. According to Noah Davis, Yuga Labs’ brand lead for the CryptoPunks collection, the difference in word count proves one thing. That Yuga Labs has attempted to cover some missed gray areas in the BAYC licensing agreement in this updated agreement for the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights.
The Issue of IP Rights
You can say that the issue of IP rights is a touchy subject for many NFT holders. Naturally, NFT owners want full rights to their assets; however, that is not the case.
NFT creators have different ways of rolling out IP rights. World of Women NFT holders, just like holders of BAYC, CryptoPunks, and Meebits NFTs, own the IP rights to their respective NFTs. However, the license only applies to NFTs they own individually.
On the other hand, the IP rights to Doodles and VeeFriends NFTs remain with their creators even after purchase. In the case of Cool Cats and CloneX NFTs, holders only have limited IP rights to their assets.
Then there is the case of the popular Moonbirds NFT collection. Recently, Kevin Rose, the project’s creator, changed Moonbirds’ IP rights to a CC0 or collective commons zero license without consulting the community.
The switch to a CC0 meant that even non-owners could use and reproduce Moonbirds NFTs (and its sister project, Oddities) for commercial purposes. Rose’s decision caused an uproar on Twitter, with Moonbirds holders disagreeing with Rose, arguing that they invested in the project with the knowledge that they had exclusive rights to their NFTs.
Be that as it may, judging from how BAYC owners use their commercial rights, the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights may see the NFT collections’ owners having similar opportunities to make extra money with their assets.
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