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I am more bewildered as I try to figure out where the value is coming from. An NFT as far as I can tell is just saying 'yes I own this thing'. But the origina

I am more bewildered as I try to figure out where the value is coming from. An NFT as far as I can tell is just saying 'yes I own this thing'. But the original creator still owns everything really relevant about that thing anyway. What are they buying? Are there any relevant resources out there that lay out where the value is derived?

kbelder 5y ago
As near as I figure, it's not even 'yes I own this thing'. It's 'I own the NFT that refers to that thing', which only happens to connote ownership by convention. IE... somebody could sell the object and keep the NFT, or vice versa. There's no legal concept tying the NFT to ownership of the object, except perhaps indirectly via contract.
- DennisP 5y ago
  William Shatner is working with a startup that actually has a legal framework around NFTs, where the NFT denotes ownership of a collectible in a vault. You can trade the NFT around but the current owner can redeem it and take delivery of the physical item. It's similar to what's been done in the high-end art world for years. People who buy a $50M painting don't usually hang it on their walls, they just leave it in a vault and get their name recorded on a public art registry saying they own it. Seems like a similar legal framework granting NFT owners either copyright ownership or a usage license could be interesting.
  - jallen_dot_dev 5y ago
    >You can trade the NFT around but the current owner can redeem it and take delivery of the physical item. What happens if someone buys my NFT but I refuse to deliver the physical item? It seems we need to pull in the legacy legal system to enforce the transfer, at which point I wonder what value the blockchain added in the first place.
    - DennisP 5y ago
      You don't hold the item. It's held in a vault by one of various professional vault providers with contractual obligations. If you want the physical item you turn over the NFT and it's destroyed. Blockchains can be useful without totally replacing the legal system. Just making things a little better and more efficient is fine. In this case, it lets people easily trade collectibles without all the hassle of shipping physical items.
- oneeyedpigeon 5y ago
  > I own the NFT that refers to that thing Isn't it more like "I own an NFT that refers to that thing"? There's nothing to stop the actual owner from 'printing' as many NFTs as they want, right?
- joshfraser 5y ago
  I'm one of the founders of Origin, the project that hosted this auction. Here's my take on it: It's a social contract between the creator and the collector. Today when you buy a home you have someone go down to the local courthouse and check that there are no leans against the property and no one else is claiming ownership. In the future, you can imagine a world where that title would live on the blockchain and everyone could see the true owner based on their ability to sign a message with their wallet. You could transfer your title just as easily as any other blockchain transaction. While blockchain titles have obvious advantages, they are hard to pull off because you need 100% participation of everyone in the community for it to work. The reason we're seeing art NFTs take off first, is that you only need the participation of the creator and a small group of collectors. The creator promises to sign all of their work with their digital wallet and as long as the buyer of the NFT trusts the creator, it works.
  - magma1983 5y ago
    AFAIK, nothing stops the family from selling another NFT of the same video.
    - joshfraser 5y ago
      That's why I said it's a social contract.

kbelder 5y ago

As near as I figure, it's not even 'yes I own this thing'. It's 'I own the NFT that refers to that thing', which only happens to connote ownership by convention. IE... somebody could sell the object and keep the NFT, or vice versa. There's no legal concept tying the NFT to ownership of the object, except perhaps indirectly via contract.

DennisP 5y ago
William Shatner is working with a startup that actually has a legal framework around NFTs, where the NFT denotes ownership of a collectible in a vault. You can trade the NFT around but the current owner can redeem it and take delivery of the physical item. It's similar to what's been done in the high-end art world for years. People who buy a $50M painting don't usually hang it on their walls, they just leave it in a vault and get their name recorded on a public art registry saying they own it. Seems like a similar legal framework granting NFT owners either copyright ownership or a usage license could be interesting.
- jallen_dot_dev 5y ago
  >You can trade the NFT around but the current owner can redeem it and take delivery of the physical item. What happens if someone buys my NFT but I refuse to deliver the physical item? It seems we need to pull in the legacy legal system to enforce the transfer, at which point I wonder what value the blockchain added in the first place.
  - DennisP 5y ago
    You don't hold the item. It's held in a vault by one of various professional vault providers with contractual obligations. If you want the physical item you turn over the NFT and it's destroyed. Blockchains can be useful without totally replacing the legal system. Just making things a little better and more efficient is fine. In this case, it lets people easily trade collectibles without all the hassle of shipping physical items.
oneeyedpigeon 5y ago
> I own the NFT that refers to that thing Isn't it more like "I own an NFT that refers to that thing"? There's nothing to stop the actual owner from 'printing' as many NFTs as they want, right?
joshfraser 5y ago
I'm one of the founders of Origin, the project that hosted this auction. Here's my take on it: It's a social contract between the creator and the collector. Today when you buy a home you have someone go down to the local courthouse and check that there are no leans against the property and no one else is claiming ownership. In the future, you can imagine a world where that title would live on the blockchain and everyone could see the true owner based on their ability to sign a message with their wallet. You could transfer your title just as easily as any other blockchain transaction. While blockchain titles have obvious advantages, they are hard to pull off because you need 100% participation of everyone in the community for it to work. The reason we're seeing art NFTs take off first, is that you only need the participation of the creator and a small group of collectors. The creator promises to sign all of their work with their digital wallet and as long as the buyer of the NFT trusts the creator, it works.
- magma1983 5y ago
  AFAIK, nothing stops the family from selling another NFT of the same video.
  - joshfraser 5y ago
    That's why I said it's a social contract.