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How to Avoid NFT Copyright Infringement

The norms around copyright law, and potential consequences of copyright infringement.

louis avatar
Written by louis
Updated over a week ago

Disclaimer: These Guidelines and Policies are not legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Reliance on this guide does not form an attorney-client relationship. These Guidelines and Policies primarily characterize and rely on United States law unless stated otherwise. There is no guarantee as to the accuracy of the information herein. If you have a legal question about your legal rights, you should contact an attorney and not any members of the SuperRare team.

Artists Agree Not to Mint Multiple NFTs for the Same Underlying Work

NFTs have created an entirely new asset class for digital art and collectibles, but much of the value derived from digital art depends on the proven rarity of the NFT. SuperRare items are intended to be unique, meaning that there should only ever be one digital token or asset for a given work of art.

Blockchain makes it possible to verifiably prove the provenance and authenticity of digital art like never before, but there are currently no deployed technological mechanisms or standards to prevent Artists from minting identical NFTs and selling them without the original Collector’s knowledge.

In order to ensure the rarity of each SuperRare item, our Terms of Service provide that minting a work on the Platform constitutes an express representation, warranty, and covenant that the Artist has not, will not, and will not cause another to mint, tokenize, sell, or offer for sale another digital collectible, asset, or product for the same underlying work.

The Role of Reputation

Reputation plays an important role in the art world. A solid reputation can turn a simple “Red” pixel into valuable work of art, but a poor reputation can create uncertainty and concern as to the value or credibility of a particular Artist’s works.

Reputation acts as a signal to art collectors, but also as an enforcement mechanism to discourage infringement and duplicative minting of SuperRare items. If you mint duplicative works beyond the number of editions promised (SuperRare only currently supports single editions), the market will notice.

If you consistently mint unoriginal content with a tenuous or non-existent “fair use” defense, the market will notice. Indeed, blockchain technology has enabled the market to notice these things better than ever before. In short, add value to your creative portfolio and to the SuperRare community by protecting your reputation through compliance with these Guidelines and Policies.

How the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Applies

SuperRare Labs respects the intellectual property rights of others. It is our policy to respond promptly any claim that content posted on the site infringes the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person.

SuperRare Labs will use reasonable efforts to investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and these Terms, including removing or disabling access to content claimed to be infringing and/or terminating accounts and access to the site.

Collectors purchase SuperRare items assuming the risk that it may be subsequently taken down pursuant to a valid DMCA Notice. For more information on the DMCA and filing or responding to a DMCA “Take Down” Notice, please review our Terms of Service.

Penalties for Violating These Guidelines

Failure to abide by these Community Guidelines and Policies may result in, without limitation, suspension of minting privileges, deletion of your account, revocation of your right to access the SuperRare platform, delisting of your art works, or other penalties deemed suitable by the SuperRare team.

SuperRare has the unilateral authority and discretion to remove, suspend, or revoke Artists’ access to the SuperRare platform for posting unoriginal content, whether or not a credible “fair use” defense exists.

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