Posted on 03/14/2021 5:58:52 AM PDT by BenLurkin
José Delgo, a former DC and Marvel comics artist, used to be best known for his run penciling Wonder Woman back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Now, he’s probably most famous for making $1.85 million dollars by selling NFTs—or non-fungible tokens—of his drawings online, many of which featured Wonder Woman and other licensed characters. DC Comics is apparently not pleased with this development.
Of course, the real problem is DC didn’t get a cut of the sales of art featuring its intellectual property and is worried that other artists—who work for DC or otherwise—may try the same thing. So the publisher, by way of Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs Jay Kogan, sent out a letter to the creative teams and freelancers employed by DC, letting them know in no uncertain terms NFTs are a no-no.
[T]he value of NFTs is the same as paper money. They’re both lies agreed upon; that having an unduplicatable digital asset in a closed system makes it valuable, even though it’s readily available outside that system, or that slips of printed paper are valuable unto themselves and can be traded for goods and services, but when you take that paper to a different country, it buys you nothing.
If enough people buy into the idea that NFTs have value (figuratively, not literally...but I guess also literally), then they’ll have value. Right now, their rising popularity, evidenced by the number of big companies signing up to peddle their wares, certainly indicates the NFT market is headed that way.
(Excerpt) Read more at io9.gizmodo.com ...
Money laundering.
When are Warner-DC and Disney-marvel going to go after these artists for selling convention sketches of Marvel and DC superheroes?
The big deal is Marvel and DC don’t want their artists to suddenly find themselves millionaires and able to pick and choose their projects or reject doing anymore comic work.
Perhaps the artists can create original artwork which does not involve copyrighted subjects for imagery, and thereby profit independently from their innate talent?
They can do that. I’m not aware of noncompete clauses with most artists.
My earlier point is that these artists have sold unlicensed drawings at conventions for the better part of 50 years.
And those drawings still circulate in the aftermarket as well. They are bought and sold for the prices higher than the original drawing.
Understood.
Can we find a way to monetize post counts on FR?
Sure. Let me get in on the ground floor. I’ll give you a nickel!
Or worse, start competing companies!
bump
They saw that happen numerous times in the past
If it's legible, it's fungible, ... for Comics, in Comic Book World.
The music industry has tried to go to a digital only model so therefore there are no used album sales and no auctions for $2 million signed Beatles records or whatever.
Even when people buy the nonfungible recordings and artworks They own no reproduction rights or licensing rights
The one-of-a-kind sketches were never an issue. The prints and sketchbooks were the legal gray area, but would be worse PR to shut them down. The publishers looked the other way in exchange for goodwill and free advertising, it’s known as the “Adam Hughes Rule”. AT&T/Disney will not be so forgiving for long, assuming conventions ever come back.
Some artists like Neil Adams have coordinated with comic stores to sell their pieces online. They will do a live stream broadcast to generate interest in the sales
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