👾 IT vs NFT

NFT ownership does not equate to intellectual property ownership. That's the lesson Spice DAO is learning after purchasing an NFT of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s production book for Dune at Christie's for $3 million. 

• The Decentralized Autonomous Organization originally planned to "tokenize" the book after their purchase, reports Wired, but has since reversed the decision after being made aware that owning an NFT of a work does not allow for producing derivatives of it or otherwise reproducing it.

What Is NFT Ownership?

An NFT is simply a digital referent to an object. That is, owning an NFT of the production book for Dune means simply owning a digital link to it, but neither the physical object itself or the IT behind it. One of the main reasons artists have jumped on the NFT trend is that they are still entitled to the royalties generated by NFTs of their work. Of course, since this whole field is very new, legal precedent for what ownership means and doesn't mean is still largely unlitigated.

The Verdict

Critics of NFTs are no doubt pointing to Spice's comeuppance as proof that the digital tokens are worthless. However, as the kinks of the NFT market are still being ironed out, this is a necessary-if-obvious matter to be publicly sorted out.