Inspired by the work of Gabriel Shapiro & Stuart Smolen in their Rarible-sponsored versions of NFT licensing, the licensing model attached here is intended to be used by NFT projects, irrespective of the platform their platform operates on.
The author identified several major defects with the Rarible licensing model as it appears to have been derived from the position of that platform's specific needs and commercial imperatives. In short, it didn't seem fair to collectors, users or NFT Creators. It granted NFT platforms the broadest set of rights while taking on the bare minimum of risk, passing that on to Collectors and NFT Creators.
There were some potential privity issues with this NFT license, particularly where it grant rights to sublicensees without the appropriate constraints. For example, I don't think it's reasonable to allow sublicensees to receive licence rights broader than those granted to collectors themselves. The author has addressed that by way of placing obligations on licensees to ensure their sublicensees comply with the terms of the license. Really, if a Creator or Collector is going to create a sublicense, that should be done on terms "no less onerous" than those imposed on the licensees themselves.
This licence is an attempt to rectify those and other problems identified in the Rarible model and move the risk dial back to point where those profiting most from NFT transactions take on the most risk as expected by most risk-reward equations. The risks in this instance are not too severe: they simply require those who create or sell NFTs to promise buyers that they will not be subject to third parties claiming infringement of copyright or some other intellectual property right. If a collector of NFTs buys an NFT in good faith, she is entitled to rely on the promises of the Artist and NFT Gallery/Platform that she won't find herself being subject of a legal claim. And if there is a claim, the Artist and NFT Gallery/Platform will step in to handle those claims on the collector's behalf.
Please note that the author is not providing you legal advice by publishing this work and you should seek the advice of a qualified lawyer when determining whether this licence is suitable for your specific needs. Unless you have engaged the author or his firm, there is no solicitor-client relationship between you and the author. You should be aware that given the complex nature of Intellectual Property Law around the world, there is a risk that this NFT Licence is not enforceable where you live, work and love. Many NFT platforms/galleries/auction houses use their own terms and conditions to engage creators and collectors and it is possible that attempting to use this licence (even if embedded within the NFT metadata) will fail as it will be superseded by those terms. The author's hope is that more NFT Platforms, NFT Galleries and Auction Houses use these terms to provide certainty and a fair allocation of risk for all parties.
This work is published purely to inspire better versions of NFT licensing for use by all creators, platforms and collectors. It is the work of Paul Imseih and is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.