NFT and the Future of Digital Content
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Not at all.
If NFT's aren't your thing, this changes nothing in how the site or content works for you.
Now, there have been a couple of good explanations of what NFT's are, but I'm going to really boil them down to the essence with one thing: What do you think the going price would be for a very old can of soup, so old that the expiration date of that soup passed years and years ago? Now, what do you think the going value of that same can of soup would be if it was proven to have been owned by Andy Warhol?
I think most of what I'm going to say here has already been said, either by me or by others, but one thing that has not, and which Daz should take very seriously is:
One of the NFTs on offer is using the name "Nazgul" in its title, which is certainly a trademark of The Saul Zaentz Company, who aggressively protect their trademarks with respect to the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit intellectual property. Daz should be VERY cautious about anything that could be considered marketing under one of their trademarks.
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Beyond that, I am both underwhelmed and deeply disappointed.
- It's been said before, and will be said again, but NFTs are both an ecological nightmare and very poorly regulated, which is a very poor combination to get involved in.
- Daz is an art supply store (and to lesser extent artist community), and very few of its established customer base will have interest in purchasing completed artworks.
- Most of their userbase are aware that cryptocurrency and NFTs are a factor in the difficulties with upgrading the essential hardware required to utilise the assets sold on this store.
It is not a good combination.
NFTs do not achieve that by any stretch. The NFT is entirely unlike actually owning a can of soup that was proven to have been owned by Andy Warhol, it's like owning a piece of paper that says "A can of soup that was proven to have been owned by Andy Warhol".
There simply is no equating real world tangible items with virtual world digital files.
It very much changes my relationship with the site, because NFTs are an ethical line for many people. My audience--the people I've been talking Daz up to for years--is on one side of the line. You are now firmly on the other.
You are not selling an object of historical signficance. You're selling motion graphics that chug energy to put up for sale. None of us are Andy Warhol, either.
This.
Daz's involvement in NFTs is causing me serious thought about whether I can justifiably remain involved with the store (in the process forcing me to reconsider whether I make efforts to become published on the store), particularly after so many of the community have made their feelings clear and been disregarded.
Don't sell yourself short, I've seen plenty of renders in the gallery that are more interesting than a painting of a can of soup.
I did make a mention of that, but I suspect I was too unsure about the actual copyrights on it :) The picture itself also similar enough to Tolkiens Nazguls (from the movies atleast) that my thought would go to them at once even without the title.
That was also the one image that made me unsure about my own gallery, IS it the actual owner of the image that sells it, or has he/she even been asked if they wish to have their image made into a nft and sold? And This is why I am unsure if i dare keep my gallery here. I am quite aware that I am not a good artist but that don't mean I want to risk my images being used for something I do not agree with. I would like an official response (no offense admins, you do a great job but you aren't official *give virtual hugs to you all*) to this please.
Bingo. Thank you for saying this. I am right on board with this.
That something this monumental was rolled out with so little planning and so little communication is just mind boggling to me.
I want nothing to do with this. I want nothing to do with a company that sells these. I want nothing to do with a company that does transactions in crypto. Why is this so hard to understand / come as a shock to anyone at DAZ?
Had someone at DAZ done just a few hours of research, they would have realized how hot button a topic this is.
This is an extremely flippant and callous response to a customer saying you've done something that potentially hurts their income.
exactly. when Artstation announced their NFT "program" users of artstation all threatened to delete their accounts and/or cancel their Pro Subscriptions. some didn't threan to delete their accounts, some actually did and publicly posted them doing it on Twitter.
expect those using DAZ products to stop buying, threaten to delete accounts, and/or those with PC+ subscriptions, will cancel them in protest. what DAZ did just ruined their reputation forever since the internet never forgets.
Then I apologise, as I evidently missed that in amongst all the other posts.
True, but the visual appearance of a cloaked wraith like figure is a considerably less concrete accusation to make in an copyright case than actually using a specific and unique name from the books.
I can't imagine the Tolkien Estate, Saul Zaentz Company or New Line Cinema (whichever is applicable here) having much of a sense of humour over that. Calling it Dark Rider or similar might let it slip under the radar perhaps...
Also, have you seen the starting prices on those objects? I don't think the average DAZ user is the target market here anyway ...
That's like Nike saying "Just buy our shoes that weren't made by children".
@Daz_Rawb
Since commercial rights are required to use an image for marketing, and Daz uses gallery submissions for marketing, doesn't Daz then also have the rights to sell gallery submissions as NFTs?
Sorry for the messy quote, I'm in bed and it's a pain to edit on my phone
That's the thing with NFTs, anyone who wants to can sell NFTs of your works in DAZ's gallery...
NFTs are garbage and the province of scammers and suckers. Which of those two is DAZ? Which of those two does DAZ think its customers are?
NFTs are a special kind of link to a file that says you "own" some other thing. The NFT-ness just means the link cannot be duplicated or copied.
The "some other thing" can be duplicated or copied. The file that says you own it can disappear from that link (e.g. when NFT companies go out of business). Anyone can create new NFT links and claim they're the "real" ones. If somehow the linked files are still around in 50 years, if the full blockchain history isn't preserved then there won't be any way to tell which NFTs are original and which are forgeries: So with NFTs we can still expect undetectable forgeries in the long run.
NFTs don't solve any real problems, and are unlikely to stand the test of time. They're for scammers and suckers.
+1000, thanks for your couragous post, @ihavedna! While I do see some possible merit in cryptocurrencies in general for people living in countries with unstable governments - as others explained here and elsewhere - , NFTs seem to me to be purely about profit-making, and we sure a.h. don't need any more of this on this here poor planet. DAZ, please reconsider, won't you?
Even leaving aside the environmental issues of crypto, seeing Daz jump on the NFT fad just makes them feel less reputable as a company. This whole thing feels more like a get rich quick scheme.
Daz was founded on the concept of empowering artists and giving them an avenue to monetize from their talent and hard work. We are exploring NFTs (among other avenues) as an extension of that vision. We hope that in the future we can provide more avenues for artists to create and sell their works, if they so choose.
Daz values copyright law and has never sold images nor plans to sell images from the gallery without the signed agreement and purchase of that asset.
Sure wish you would have focused on providing assets that aren't broken in the store and documenting Daz Studio. That would go a long way toward helping artists create their works.
DAZ is selling NFTs, not images.
If this is really DAZ's intent then this information should be posted right on the NFT page so there is no speculation or ambiguation regarding the artists that DAZ sells products to.
Discusion about this should have been part of the plan. I.e, how such a communication should be rolled out to current customers. It shouldn't be being handled as an afterthought now in an unofficial forum.
Then you have a very dead link which was very expensive.
They are the 2021 equivalent of a Nigerian email scam. You're literally buying air. Not even air. Nothing.
I have read all the 7 (!) pages of comments now, but to be honest, I still don't get how this works. Now, let's assume I would be the customer, and I click on the link Daz provided where I can buy "something". I just learned that I get a link to a copy of a file (which might disappear at some point of time), but I still have this NFT, a long number. But - what do I do with it? Do I keep it and sell it somewhere to a higher price at some point of time? How does that work? And what is it I am actually selling here? Is this a kind of stock exchange Daz is entering now??