Yuga Labs Releases IP Licensing Agreement for CryptoPunks and Meebits
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CryptoPunks and Meebits owners have been anticipating the announcement since Yuga Labs first acquired the collections from Larva Labs in March. As part of the agreement, holders will receive exclusive commercialization rights over projects and goods based on their NFTs. The move puts them on par with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) holders already using IP.
Yuga Labs - The IP Owner
Although Yuga Labs is the IP's owner, it is licensed to NFT holders. Larva Labs, the company that owns the collections, formerly handled IP licensing differently and retained ownership of the collections' intellectual property rights. This decision drew criticism and led at least one holder to sell their CryptoPunks in protest. In general, collection creators have handled IP rights in various ways.
Moonbirds raised eyebrows earlier this month when it adopted the Creative Commons CC0 copyright code and converted it into a public domain usage model. Consequently, this permits the commercial usage and duplication of artwork created for Moonbirds and its sister project, Oddities. Holders of the NFT contended that they had invested in the initiative, assuming they had exclusive rights to their NFT. The judgment sparked outrage on social media.