How do NFTs Impact Artists?

How do NFTs Impact Artists?

Ever since the digital artist Beeple sold an NFT (non-fungible token) of his work for $69 million dollars, there’s been a ridiculous amount of excitement surrounding NFTs. Some have called it a revolutionary way to buy and sell copyrights while others have called it a fad, a scam, or worse. The truth is, it’s far too early to tell what the true economic or societal impacts of NFTs are, at least until the hype dies down. And I’m far from an expert so I don’t think my input on that front is helpful anyway. I’m more interested in the legal impacts of NFTs which are, presently, unclear.

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You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

The longer I practice law, the more I recognize certain “seasons” in my work; sometimes I’ll have a period where all my clients are filmmakers. Perhaps six months will go by where all my work revolves around trademarks in some way. Maybe I’ll have ten people in a row ask me about indemnity clauses. Lately many of my clients or prospective clients are visual or graphic artists producing collages. And they all want to know the same thing: can they use the work of others in their collages?

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The Benefits of Copyright Registration

The Benefits of Copyright Registration

Oftentimes, I get this question from current or prospective clients: “how do I copyright my work?” I usually tell them, “you don’t have to because you (most likely) already own it. Copyright isn’t an act one engages in, it’s a suite of rights, granted under the U.S. Copyright Act, that attached from the moment your work is ‘fixed in a tangible medium of expression.’” That is, the moment your work is recorded somehow - in writing, on paper, on a computer, in audio, video, etc, etc. Among the rights granted to you under copyright law: the right to own, use, exploit, and transfer ownership to the work. Other than creating it, you do not need to engage in any further actions to own it.

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On Whether You Can Use Someone Else's Copyrighted Work As Reference Material For Your Own

On Whether You Can Use Someone Else's Copyrighted Work As Reference Material For Your Own

"As part of my (illustration) process, I source and screenshot or drag images of people, places, and things from Google (usually stock photos) which I then combine and trace to create my illustrations. It would be hard for any of these stock photos to be identified outright in my work, as they are mainly used as the skeleton for postures and environments in my drawings. They are transformed by my invention of things like clothes and other details, and by my linework 'style.' What do you think of this? Am I doing anything legally risky?"

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You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

The longer I practice law, the more I recognize certain “seasons” in my work; sometimes I’ll have a period where all my clients are filmmakers. Perhaps six months will go by where all my work revolves around trademarks in some way. Maybe I’ll have ten people in a row ask me about indemnity clauses. Lately I’ve been in a season where clients are visual or graphic artists producing collages. And they all want to know the same thing: can they use the work of others in their collages?

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