SEO

NFTs & Copyright: What Do You Own?

Published

12 months ago

May 19, 2023

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are becoming an increasingly popular way for individuals and brands to profit from their digital creations.

And it’s easy to see why.

You create a unique digital asset, like a piece of art, and then you tokenize it to prove your ownership of it.

More and more creators are turning to NFTs to help verify authenticity and minimize fraud. Non-fungible tokens have even become the currency of choice in the metaverse.

But what happens once an NFT is sold? Who actually owns the copyright – the original creator or the new owner? And how do copyright laws and IP rights apply?

Understanding NFTs

To find out where the discrepancies and confusion lie in NFT copyright, it’s helpful to go back to basics to understand what NFTs are.

NFTs are digital assets containing unique identification codes that verify ownership. These digital assets range from art, music, and photos to collectibles like comic books, trading cards, and in-game items.

While fungible assets like currency and cryptocurrency can be traded and exchanged, each NFT contains a unique digital signature.

This means that no two NFTs are alike, and so they can’t be replaced or interchanged with each other. That’s the difference between fungible and non-fungible.

Like cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens or NFTs are stored on blockchain technology – a public ledger that secures information in a way that makes it impossible to hack.

Thanks to the unique identification codes contained within each NFT, they can be easily verified and authenticated to prove ownership.

Even though NFTs have the technology for ownership, there is still confusion surrounding copyright law.

How Does Copyright Legislation Apply To NFTs?

Let’s take a look at the Hermès case.

In November 2021, Hermès sued artist Mason Rothschild (real name Sonny Estival) for creating a faux fur line of NFTs inspired by its most famous and recognizable luxury bag: the Birkin.

Named the MetaBirkins, the line competed directly with Hermès and its own plans for NFTs. According to the company’s lawsuit, this confused its customers and diluted its brand.

Rothschild’s defense? That his work was social commentary and therefore protected by freedom of artistic expression.

The jury didn’t buy it and awarded the suit in favor of Hermès. Their judgment was that the NFTs were in breach of copyright law, including trademark dilution and infringement. All of which ended up costing $133,000 in damages.

An expensive lesson for Rothschild and an important legal precedent for NFTs and copyright law.

Who Owns The Intellectual Property Of An NFT?

It’s evident that many brands, including notable luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, and more, are beginning to explore the potential of non-fungible tokens.

This means that it’s becoming more important to understand where creativity ends, and copyright protection begins.

Because while buying an NFT gives the owner certain rights, complete creative control isn’t one of them – not unless the copyright holder takes active steps to ensure this, which is rarely done.

Understanding Copyright Protection

As the copyright owner, you have the exclusive right to reproduce and display your work – unless you choose to transfer the copyright or grant a license to the buyer.

But do these same laws apply to NFTs? These are the questions that are currently being asked.

If creating a non-fungible token is defined as copying or reproducing the original work in any way, then under copyright law (at least in the U.S.), the copyright holder is the only one who should legally be allowed to do so.

However, making copies of works now is much easier and cheaper than it was before the Internet existed. Today a simple right-click is all it takes, whereas previously, creating copies actually took time, money, and effort.

This is why copyright law used to be a serious consideration and, today, is barely given a second thought.

What Do You Own When You Buy NFTs?

It’s a good question.

Just because you buy a non-fungible token doesn’t mean you automatically own the copyright or even a license. The creator does.

That’s because when you buy NFTs, you’re actually purchasing a digital token – proof of ownership of something. And in some cases, you may only be the part owner of that thing.

Take The Merge, for example – an NFT artwork of 312,686 tokens purchased by 28,983 collectors for a total price of $91.8 million.

Now imagine each of those 28,983 collectors going off separately and reproducing their portion of the same art piece: nightmare.

While the various IP laws of trademark, patent, and copyright can be difficult to understand – particularly how they apply to NFTs – the rules are simple and grounded in common sense.

Don’t copy other people’s work, and always keep your own work safe, as Hermès has recently and powerfully demonstrated.

How Licenses And NFTs Work

Right now, copyright laws and guidelines are still being interrogated and debated.

But if you’re considering purchasing non-fungible tokens or are already an NFT owner, there are some workarounds when it comes to licensing:

Personal License

While you may not hold the copyright yourself, if you’re granted a personal license, you can use your NFT for non-commercial, non-profit means. This could include displaying your artwork in your home or using it as your social media profile picture.

Bear in mind, however, that you won’t be able to use your NFT for commercial gain in any way.

Commercial Rights

Here you will have some commercial rights to your NFT as given to you by the creator. It’s important to remember that they will still have copyright and IP ownership of the original work.

Depending on the specific rights transferred to you, you might be able to sell prints, create merchandise, or even create a TV show.

In the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example, owners have unrestricted commercial use of their NFT art. (However, there does seem to be some ongoing confusion about its copyright registration, which we’ll leave for another time.)

Aside from personal and commercial licenses, there are other structures in which the buyer of an NFT has to pay royalties to the original creator. So every time the NFT is sold, it generates a passive income for its owner.

William Shatner, for example, sold 125,000 digital photographs on the WAX Blockchain in just 9 minutes and now earns a secondary revenue from their trade.

On the other end of the spectrum, a royalty-free license can do away with needing to pay royalties to the creator. And other alternative licensing structures can grant or deny certain permissions to their owners.

So while copyright laws may have strict guidelines, licenses can help grant particular creative freedoms.

Brands Setting Precedence For NFTs & IP Rights

As we’ve discussed, the Hermès case sets an important legal precedent for luxury brands regarding the unauthorized sale of non-fungible tokens. And it’s more relevant now than ever.

Major brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and more are starting to enter the NFT space, partnering with NFT marketplaces and creating digital collections. And why wouldn’t they?

NFTs allow them to authenticate limited-edition products, extend the lifecycle of their products, and build more sustainable business models.

It’s no wonder, then, that brands are optimistic about the potential of NFTs to transform the industry and create new opportunities for growth and innovation.

What Does This Mean For Anyone Creating NFTs?

While NFTs have the potential to change the market and make new opportunities possible, as a brand or a creator, you still need to know your IP rights.

You also need to know about NFTs and understand that just because you’re purchasing one, doesn’t mean you own the underlying IP.

Unless, of course, you’re the original creator.

Instead, non-fungible tokens represent the ownership or rights to a particular underlying asset. And that means creators need to avoid infringing on the IP rights of others.

They also need to implement measures to protect their own IP at the same time.

Otherwise, what’s to stop someone from buying the copyright to an NFT artwork, and then suing the purchaser for making that same artwork their profile picture?

Or copying other works to create NFTs and then ensuring the purchaser has the rights to the work? All while blurring the lines of copyright infringement.

There are far too many grey areas to navigate already without playing fast and loose with the copyright legislation already in place.

So, while the terms of NFT copyright are still being defined, play it safe.

Protect your copyrighted work as a creator or a brand.

Claim resale royalties if the possibility exists for you.

Don’t use your NFTs for commercial gain without the proper licensing.

And never go up against Hermès.

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Featured Image: Crazy_Dark_Queen/Shutterstock

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SEO

Google Rolls Out New ‘Web’ Filter For Search Results

Published

8 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Max

Google is introducing a filter that allows you to view only text-based webpages in search results.

The “Web” filter, rolling out globally over the next two days, addresses demand from searchers who prefer a stripped-down, simplified view of search results.

Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, states in an announcement:

“We’ve added this after hearing from some that there are times when they’d prefer to just see links to web pages in their search results, such as if they’re looking for longer-form text documents, using a device with limited internet access, or those who just prefer text-based results shown separately from search features.”

We’ve added this after hearing from some that there are times when they’d prefer to just see links to web pages in their search results, such as if they’re looking for longer-form text documents, using a device with limited internet access, or those who just prefer text-based…

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) May 14, 2024

The new functionality is a throwback to when search results were more straightforward. Now, they often combine rich media like images, videos, and shopping ads alongside the traditional list of web links.

How It Works

On mobile devices, the “Web” filter will be displayed alongside other filter options like “Images” and “News.”

Screenshot from: twitter.com/GoogleSearchLiaison, May 2024.

If Google’s systems don’t automatically surface it based on the search query, desktop users may need to select “More” to access it.

1715727362 7 Google Rolls Out New Web Filter For Search Results

Screenshot from: twitter.com/GoogleSearchLiaison, May 2024.

More About Google Search Filters

Google’s search filters allow you to narrow results by type. The options displayed are dynamically generated based on your search query and what Google’s systems determine could be most relevant.

The “All Filters” option provides access to filters that are not shown automatically.

Alongside filters, Google also displays “Topics” – suggested related terms that can further refine or expand a user’s original query into new areas of exploration.

For more about Google’s search filters, see its official help page.

Featured Image: egaranugrah/Shutterstock

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SEO

Why Google Can’t Tell You About Every Ranking Drop

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2024

Max

Why Google Can't Tell You About Every Ranking Drop

In a recent Twitter exchange, Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, provided insight into how the search engine handles algorithmic spam actions and ranking drops.

The discussion was sparked by a website owner’s complaint about a significant traffic loss and the inability to request a manual review.

Sullivan clarified that a site could be affected by an algorithmic spam action or simply not ranking well due to other factors.

He emphasized that many sites experiencing ranking drops mistakenly attribute it to an algorithmic spam action when that may not be the case.

“I’ve looked at many sites where people have complained about losing rankings and decide they have a algorithmic spam action against them, but they don’t. “

Sullivan’s full statement will help you understand Google’s transparency challenges.

Additionally, he explains why the desire for manual review to override automated rankings may be misguided.

Two different things. A site could have an algorithmic spam action. A site could be not ranking well because other systems that *are not about spam* just don’t see it as helpful.

I’ve looked at many sites where people have complained about losing rankings and decide they have a…

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) May 13, 2024

Challenges In Transparency & Manual Intervention

Sullivan acknowledged the idea of providing more transparency in Search Console, potentially notifying site owners of algorithmic actions similar to manual actions.

However, he highlighted two key challenges:

Revealing algorithmic spam indicators could allow bad actors to game the system.
Algorithmic actions are not site-specific and cannot be manually lifted.

Sullivan expressed sympathy for the frustration of not knowing the cause of a traffic drop and the inability to communicate with someone about it.

However, he cautioned against the desire for a manual intervention to override the automated systems’ rankings.

Sullivan states:

“…you don’t really want to think “Oh, I just wish I had a manual action, that would be so much easier.” You really don’t want your individual site coming the attention of our spam analysts. First, it’s not like manual actions are somehow instantly processed. Second, it’s just something we know about a site going forward, especially if it says it has change but hasn’t really.”

Determining Content Helpfulness & Reliability

Moving beyond spam, Sullivan discussed various systems that assess the helpfulness, usefulness, and reliability of individual content and sites.

He acknowledged that these systems are imperfect and some high-quality sites may not be recognized as well as they should be.

“Some of them ranking really well. But they’ve moved down a bit in small positions enough that the traffic drop is notable. They assume they have fundamental issues but don’t, really — which is why we added a whole section about this to our debugging traffic drops page.”

Sullivan revealed ongoing discussions about providing more indicators in Search Console to help creators understand their content’s performance.

“Another thing I’ve been discussing, and I’m not alone in this, is could we do more in Search Console to show some of these indicators. This is all challenging similar to all the stuff I said about spam, about how not wanting to let the systems get gamed, and also how there’s then no button we would push that’s like “actually more useful than our automated systems think — rank it better!” But maybe there’s a way we can find to share more, in a way that helps everyone and coupled with better guidance, would help creators.”

Advocacy For Small Publishers & Positive Progress

In response to a suggestion from Brandon Saltalamacchia, founder of RetroDodo, about manually reviewing “good” sites and providing guidance, Sullivan shared his thoughts on potential solutions.

He mentioned exploring ideas such as self-declaration through structured data for small publishers and learning from that information to make positive changes.

“I have some thoughts I’ve been exploring and proposing on what we might do with small publishers and self-declaring with structured data and how we might learn from that and use that in various ways. Which is getting way ahead of myself and the usual no promises but yes, I think and hope for ways to move ahead more positively.”

Sullivan said he can’t make promises or implement changes overnight, but he expressed hope for finding ways to move forward positively.

Featured Image: Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock

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SEO

56 Google Search Statistics to Bookmark for 2024

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

56 Google Search Statistics to Bookmark for 2024

If you’re curious about the state of Google search in 2024, look no further.

Each year we pick, vet, and categorize a list of up-to-date statistics to give you insights from trusted sources on Google search trends.

Google has a web index of “about 400 billion documents”. (The Capitol Forum)
Google’s search index is over 100 million gigabytes in size. (Google)
There are an estimated 3.5 billion searches on Google each day. (Internet Live Stats)
61.5% of desktop searches and 34.4% of mobile searches result in no clicks. (SparkToro)
15% of all Google searches have never been searched before. (Google)
94.74% of keywords get 10 monthly searches or fewer. (Ahrefs)
The most searched keyword in the US and globally is “YouTube,” and youtube.com gets the most traffic from Google. (Ahrefs)
96.55% of all pages get zero search traffic from Google. (Ahrefs)
50-65% of all number-one spots are dominated by featured snippets. (Authority Hacker)
Reddit is the most popular domain for product review queries. (Detailed)

Google is the most used search engine in the world, with a mobile market share of 95.32% and a desktop market share of 81.95%. (Statista)
Google.com generated 84.2 billion visits a month in 2023. (Statista)
Google generated $307.4 billion in revenue in 2023. (Alphabet Investor Relations)
63.41% of all US web traffic referrals come from Google. (SparkToro)
92.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps. (SparkToro)
Only 49% of Gen Z women use Google as their search engine. The rest use TikTok. (Search Engine Land)

58.67% of all website traffic worldwide comes from mobile phones. (Statista)
57% of local search queries are submitted using a mobile device or tablet. (ReviewTrackers)
51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphones. (Think With Google)
54% of smartphone users search for business hours, and 53% search for directions to local stores. (Think With Google)
18% of local searches on smartphones lead to a purchase within a day vs. 7% of non-local searches. (Think With Google)
56% of in-store shoppers used their smartphones to shop or research items while they were in-store. (Think With Google)
60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results (e.g., “click to call” option). (Think With Google)
63.6% of consumers say they are likely to check reviews on Google before visiting a business location. (ReviewTrackers)
88% of consumers would use a business that replies to all of its reviews. (BrightLocal)
Customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider a business reputable if they find a complete Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. (Google)
Customers are 70% more likely to visit and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from businesses with a complete Business Profile. (Google)
76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day. (Think With Google)
28% of searches for something nearby result in a purchase. (Think With Google)
Mobile searches for “store open near me” (such as, “grocery store open near me” have grown by over 250% in the last two years. (Think With Google)

People use Google Lens for 12 billion visual searches a month. (Google)
50% of online shoppers say images helped them decide what to buy. (Think With Google)
There are an estimated 136 billion indexed images on Google Image Search. (Photutorial)
15.8% of Google SERPs show images. (Moz)
People click on 3D images almost 50% more than static ones. (Google)

More than 800 million people use Google Discover monthly to stay updated on their interests. (Google)
46% of Google Discover URLs are news sites, 44% e-commerce, 7% entertainment, and 2% travel. (Search Engine Journal)
Even though news sites accounted for under 50% of Google Discover URLs, they received 99% of Discover clicks. (Search Engine Journal)
Most Google Discover URLs only receive traffic for three to four days, with most of that traffic occurring one to two days after publishing. (Search Engine Journal)
The clickthrough rate (CTR) for Google Discover is 11%. (Search Engine Journal)

91.45% of search volumes in Google Ads Keyword Planner are overestimates. (Ahrefs)
For every $1 a business spends on Google Ads, they receive $8 in profit through Google Search and Ads. (Google)
Google removed 5.5 billion ads, suspended 12.7 million advertiser accounts, restricted over 6.9 billion ads, and restricted ads from showing up on 2.1 billion publisher pages in 2023. (Google)
The average shopping click-through rate (CTR) across all industries is 0.86% for Google Ads. (Wordstream)
The average shopping cost per click (CPC) across all industries is $0.66 for Google Ads. (Wordstream)
The average shopping conversion rate (CVR) across all industries is 1.91% for Google Ads. (Wordstream)

58% of consumers ages 25-34 use voice search daily. (UpCity)
16% of people use voice search for local “near me” searches. (UpCity)
67% of consumers say they’re very likely to use voice search when seeking information. (UpCity)
Active users of the Google Assistant grew 4X over the past year, as of 2019. (Think With Google)
Google Assistant hit 1 billion app installs. (Android Police)

AI-generated answers from SGE were available for 91% of entertainment queries but only 17% of healthcare queries. (Statista)
The AI-generated answers in Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) do not match any links from the top 10 Google organic search results 93.8% of the time. (Search Engine Journal)
Google displays a Search Generative element for 86.8% of all search queries. (Authoritas)
62% of generative links came from sources outside the top 10 ranking organic domains. Only 20.1% of generative URLs directly match an organic URL ranking on page one. (Authoritas)
70% of SEOs said that they were worried about the impact of SGE on organic search (Aira)