In the Headlines
September 11, 2022

How CC0 Can Help — or Hurt — NFT Projects

The Block

Intellectual Property attorney Daniel Barsky spoke with The Block about the pros and cons of creative commons (CC0) and copyright. CC0 is a type of creative tool that dedicates a work to the public domain, meaning a creator gives up all copyright and lets others freely distribute, build upon and commercialize their work. Removing copyright allows projects to expand their brands through derivative use that doesn’t need permission from or attribution to the original founding team. This article breaks down the role of copyright in CC0, specifically in regards to non-fungible token projects (NFTs). Mr. Barsky noted a gray area that is often missed in these conversations, fair use.

“People forget there's a concept of ‘fair use’ in copyright law,” he said. “There's always been the ability to fairly use copyrighted works for a variety of purposes, such as parody. It's not like it's always been the situation where if there's a copyright on a piece of IP, it's going to be forever walled off.”

READ: How CC0 Can Help — or Hurt — NFT Projects

Related News and Headlines