November of 2022 saw the NFT and digital artist community shocked by an announcement by OpenSea, the world’s latest distributor of artist-made digital assets. OpenSea stated that it would be
considering removing royalties from existing collections, culling the ability for many artists to generate income from their art via passive means.
This announcement sparked serious backlash, with media articles coming out and questioning the motives behind their decision. Yet, considering the power that OpenSea holds in this industry, it wasn’t long before smaller platforms came out with the same rulings. One of the leading marketplaces on Ethereum, LooksRare,
announced that it would no longer enforce royalty payments.
They’re not alone in this, with
X2Y2 similarly giving the option to completely get rid of royalties on collections. By moving royalties to 0%, NFT platforms actively decrease the ability for creators to make a living wage while dealing in NFT art. Especially considering the current bear market that cryptocurrency generally is going through, the NFT market is particularly slow.
For creators, the sudden loss of another stream of income has been the straw that broke the camel’s back, sending them away from these technologies. Luckily, not all blockchain systems have come out against creator royalties. Most recently, Tezos and all of its top marketplaces, have demonstrated their unconditional support for creators.
In this article, we’ll dive into the controversy around NFT royalties, demonstrating how Tezos has positioned itself as a market leader due to its alliance with artists over profits.
What’s the Big Deal About NFT Royalties?
NFT royalties are designed to afford artists more than a single way of making money from their art. In traditional spaces, artists simply have to sell a piece of art, losing the rights to the asset and getting a fixed fee in return. In order to give artists more flexibility, NFT royalties were created.
These were blanket 4-6% royalties on all further sales of digital collectibles. Although only a small percentage,
valuable NFTs can sell for many times more than their first sale value, with royalties ensuring that artists are not exploited and then forgotten about. An example of this happening in the world of art was with Harvey Ball. in 1963, he sold the original design for a yellow smiley face for $45.
The design was resold in
2000 for $500,000,000, with Ball not receiving a cent. With this in mind, royalties are a phenomenal way of protecting artists.
But, this isn’t an issue that only impacts individual artists. When a range of world-leading blockchains all disagree on something as fundamental as how they manage one of their leading technologies, it comes off as worrying for investors.