A user with the handleVincentVanDough put up a non-fungible token for sale with the title " Right Click Save This."
The Great Right Click Wars are a feud in which members of the independent and furry art scenes have been making fun of the concept and execution of NFTs by uploading them to the internet.
The NFT was a collection of dozens of furry profile pictures, which were collected without the artists' permission, with a Pepe frog superimposed with a top hat and middle finger, along with a flashing caption that alternated between "LAWSUIT"
The piece is dedicated to the furries. They will soon understand the value of provenance.
The NFT was sold for 20 ETH on a marketplace called Foundation. The piece is still on display despite being hit with a DMCA notice.
The crux of the dispute is that the artists that they were supposed to help are opposing NFTs. The conflict between independent artists and NFT fans is just another rivalry on social media. It could be a sign of things to come far beyond niche fandoms, as it is a compelling example of larger issues at the intersection of art, technology and copyright law.
Queen Mary University PhD researcher Mike Dunford told Futurism that there are two communities using copyright to drive their creativity. The two groups are talking past each other because they value completely different things.
He said thatCopyright law is a disaster zone.
Some artists are making a lot of money on NFTs. The majority are not. Half of NFTs sell for less than $200, and that is before considering the fees for using a platform and minting the works, as well as the transaction costs required to turn any crypto revenue back into fiat currency. Beeple's $69 million NFT can start looking like a lot of drama and schemes on closer inspection.
Many highly-valued NFT projects have been criticized for their lack of artistic quality. Some of the hottest profile picture NFTs, like the Bored Apps and Lazy Lions, are made by taking a base image and adding randomized attributes to generate numerous lucrative new versions, but not necessarily one that is a fun gimmick.
An even more trenchant critique is that many NFTs that do turn a profit are minting money from scam artists who stole someone else's work for a quick payoff.
An independent furry artist who asked not to be identified out of fear of further harassment said that his art was stolen and made into an NFT. I would have never found out if it weren't for the person who made it public.
If your art gets stolen as an NFT, chances are you will have to send a DMCA to the site hosting it for them to consider doing anything about it.
This type of theft can be very sad. The work of an artist named Qinni Han was copied and sold under her name.
She can do the best she can to address the art theft, but she can't invest a lot of her energy into it because it's out of her control.
Prominent artists including "Detective Pikachu" concept designer have had their work stolen.
In the last 24 hours, I have had to report 29 instances of my art being stolen. I am very tired of this and it seems to be getting worse. Every artist is getting their work jacked and it is not fair. It feels like we can't do anything.
People who want to push NFTs have to look out for attacks on artists' accounts. The artist told us that these schemes are the reason why most artists block NFT accounts.
It's bad news for artists that don't want to enter the NFT.
Dunford said that it was like watching a car sliding down a hill.
Dunford views the Great Right Click Wars as performative and believes that right-clicking could be copyrighted. He says that nobody is going to have a firm playbook until there is legal precedent.
We can't know the answer until it goes to court.
There is a belief that marketplaces could be doing more to fight back against art thieves. Most NFT marketplaces have yet to implement a feature that would alert users when their work is copied as an NFT.
The Foundation said it was aware of problems with theft and was working to deal with them.
According to the company, fraud/misrepresentation is the act of stealing a work from a creator and pretending to be the actual creator of a work. This type of activity is not allowed on Foundation and merits an account/wallet suspension as well as removal of the artwork. The company said it is working on a system that will encourage collectors to do their due diligence before bidding.
The NFT community agrees that platforms should be doing more to protect artists.
Gabriel Allred, founder of the NFT company Bitlectro Labs, said that they haven't seen a lot of bold moves on OpenSea's part to combat this stuff. They should be able to implement protocols or even technology fixes because they have so much money.
Allred thinks that the tech will be a huge boon for independent artists once the issues are fixed.
He said that people are not understanding the value of this yet and that it is not even discussed within the NFT. He doesn't think the rush for huge profits is helpful.
Many independent artists have embraced the concept.
Bruce TheGoose, the founder of NFThub and Nifty Pride, told Futurism that he never publicly shared his art before.
BruceTheGoose credits a global platform with their success. If a few independent artists get trampled along the way, that is just the cost of doing business.
The people who are making a lot of money and freeing themselves from the nine to five are going to have bad actors. I don't think there's any way to enforce or police it.
A 12-year-old earns $400,000 selling NFTs.
Are you interested in supporting clean energy adoption? At UnderstandSolar.com, you can find out how much money you could save if you switched to solar power. Futurism.com may receive a small commission if you sign up through this link.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
