NFT Art & Utility
For people in the NFT Art space, the buzzword for the past year has been “utility.” From NFT merchandise to exclusive access to VIP events, there are many ways that NFT Art projects provide utility to their owners. But not every NFT Art project is created equally, and that goes for the utility that the NFTs provide as well. Indeed, the technology underlying NFTs allows for so much more creative utility than what the current NFT landscape provides. Here in this blog post, we take a look at some of the more interesting and unusual utility that can be provided by harnessing the power of non-fungible tokens.
Movies Inside An NFT
What if your favorite childhood movie was released as an NFT? Further, what if there were only 1,000 of these said NFTs, and you could not watch the movie without owning the NFT. Imagine even further, that the movie is an instant classic. The demand for that NFT would sky-rocket. This is now happening in real time. For example, Kevin Smith’s new movie has been released as an NFT. The “Killroy Was Here” NFT owners not only get exclusive access to the premiere of the film in Austin, Texas, but the NFT owners also have input in the creative process for the sequel to the film.
Kevin Smith’s New NFT movie, KillRoy Was Here.
License To Kill It
Some NFT Art Projects grant ownership of the NFT Art to the NFT Art owner and holder. This has allowed for some awesome collaborations and innovative use of the intellectual property. A few Bored Ape Yacht Club owners have already dabbled their hands in restaurant ownership, using their Bored Ape NFT for marketing and branding. One Bored Ape owner has entered into a licensing agreement with Gap and Old Navy to put his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT on the company’s t-shirts.
Old Navy’s Bored Ape Yacht Club T-Shirt
Indeed, some NFT Projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, grant the Intellectual Property rights to the NFT owner. This license to use the intellectual property of the NFT art is groundbreaking both for the NFT Project and the NFT owner. Intellectual Property refers to a cluster of legal doctrines that regulate the use of ideas and insignia. Under the umbrella of intellectual property are three areas of law: copyright law, patent law and trademark law. Copyright law governs original forms of expression, such as novels, movies and television shows. Patent law regulates the areas of inventions and discoveries, and finally there is trademark law which is used to protect a company’s words and symbols.
As one may imagine, owning the intellectual property rights to a famous character such as Superman or Homer Simpson can be extremely lucrative for the copyright and trademark holder. Owning the rights to the NFT Art allows the NFT owner to use the images and the branding of his NFT to monetize his NFT art. At Awk Monks, our very own limited NFT Collection, we also grant the NFT owners of our community the intellectual property rights to the Awkward Monkey NFTs.
My Offer Is This: NOTHING But the NFT Art
So many NFT Art Projects are offering such varying amounts of utility that it has all become a bit much. In fact, most people purchase NFT Art not for the utility but for the cool art itself. Some NFT Art projects have used the fact that their NFTs offer no utility as their branding and marketing strategy. In a world with too many choices, revolting against the norm can be a way to distinguish one NFT Project from another. The NFT Art is what is drawing most people to a particular NFT project – it is not the utility. Of course, utility can add extreme value to NFTs, but in and of itself, without amazing artwork, utility can only take the value of an NFT so far.
Next Stop: Innovation
Non-fungible tokens allow for a plethora of innovation. Blockchain technology allows for transparency and security. This empowers the NFT community to be creative, as there are no bounds to their limitations.
Thank you for reading our blog post. Continue to check us out for more information and resources on all things NFTs – including our own NFT project, Awk Monks! Also, don’t forget to check out The Ultimate NFT Monkey Guide for all things NFT Monkey related. It’s a great resource rich in information.
