Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) collection, has officially released the intellectual property (IP) rights tied to the Cryptopunks and Meebits NFTs. The company acquired the IP rights to the NFT collections in mid-March 2022, and owners can use their NFTs for commercial or personal purposes.
Yuga Labs Issues Intellectual Property Licenses to Cryptopunks and Meebits Owners
On March 12, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported that Cryptopunks and MeBits’ non-fungible token (NFT) collection had been acquired by Era Labs. The firm Yuga Labs is the company behind the blue-chip NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and when the startup acquired Meebits and Cryptopunks, it promised to issue the IP rights the same way it did with BAYC NFTs. did. Bored apes, cryptopunks and mebits are popular NFT collections today and they command some of the highest NFT floor values.
BAYC’s floor value today is 69.42 ETH, Cryptopunks’ floor is roughly 65.5 ETH, and the cheapest Meebits today is much lower than the Cryptopunks and BAYC collections with a 3.3 ETH floor value. People have used their Bored Apes for commercial and personal use. For instance, Snoop Dogg and Eminem leveraged their BAYC NFT avatars to make a video for the duo’s single called “From the D 2 The LBC,” which was nominated for a VMA.
Similarly, with MeBits and Cryptopunks NFT Collection, owners have IP rights to use NFTs for commercial or personal use cases.
Meebits for instance, are already utilized in a number of virtual worlds, applications, and games. Cryptopunks NFTs were recently used by the luxury jewelry and specialty retailer Tiffany & Co. to sell jeweled pendants tied to the NFTs. When Yuga Labs released the IP rights, the co-founders Gordon Goner and Gargamel explained that the company “delivered on a promise” they made to Cryptopunks and Meebits holders.
“IP rights to your NFTs. This big step opens up endless possibilities for creativity and ingenuity, with no shortage of meebs and punks,” the co-founders said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. We believe that this type of freedom is an important part of Web 3, and truly celebrates the founding principles of Era Labs: ownership, decentralization and innovation.”
In addition to Yuga Labs, the official Cryptopunks Twitter page tweeted about the IP rights release. The Twitter account @cryptopunksnfts said:
The IP rights agreement for Punk, the Cryptopunks Collection is now live and can be found at https://licenseterms.cryptopunks.app. This moment is something we’ve promised since day one and we look forward to seeing what the community creates, using the terms as guidance.
Galaxy Digital Research Report Says the Yuga Labs License Covering BAYC, MAYC, and BAKC NFTs Contains Critical Contradictions
Meanwhile, following the IP rights release on August 15, a newly published Galaxy Digital NFT research report called “A Survey of NFT Licenses: Facts & Fictions” criticizes Yuga Labs’ IP license assigned to BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), and Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) NFTs.
The Galaxy report states, “There are significant conflicts in the licenses granted by Yura to holders of BAYC, MAYC and BAKC NFTs that reinforce our conclusion that the license agreement conflicts with properly transferring IP to NFT holders.” Huh.”
Although, the Galaxy Digital researchers Alex Thorn, Michael Marcantonio, and Gabe Parker detail that the new IP licenses for the Meebits and Cryptopunks NFT collections are clearer.
“While the BAYC license is vague and potentially misleading, Yura Labs’ new licenses, including the new Cryptopunks and Meebits licenses, are significantly more professional and clear in ownership and license terms,” Galaxy Digital researchers elaborated in Friday’s blog post. “At this point, given the disparity between Era’s BAYC license and its new licenses, it is unclear whether Era Labs intends to grant equal commercial use rights to holders of App and Punx.”
