Jin Yong, renouned martial arts novels author, had published more than a dozen of works that were popular among Chinese readers. If you agree with the above description, you should be shocked by the launch of the “Tian Long Ba Bu NFT”.
“Seriously? The NFT of Tian Long Ba Bu?”
Yes – though you are doubting, this NFT series has been launched and positioned itself as “the first on the network”, combining “NFT and Jin Yong's martial arts characters' to cast the characters in the 'Tian Long Ba Bu'; and the exclusive NFT card image is 'integrated into mainstream blind box game elements and DeFi mechanisms to create a decentralized game platform'. According to the 'Tian Long Ba Bu. NFT' team, this move is to pay tribute to Jin Yong; a total of 6,000 NFT character cards worth US$45,000 have also been airdropped to players.
Still feeling puzzled? That's what matters : when the general public is still questioning the relationship between Jin Yong's works and NFT, someone has already turned these classic creations into NFTs, making a fortune in the DeFi field. So, has the NFT obtained the permission of the copyright holder? No one could provide an accurate answer as there is no disclosure in the current access information, but the important thing is that no matter whether it has been approved by the IP owner, it will not prevent this NFT series from appearing in the DeFi world. Moreover, the 'Tian Long Ba Bu. NFT' will not be the first case, nor will it be the last.
“Tian Long Ba Bu. NFT” is an alarm to all IP owners. From the perspective of speculators, NFT is an opportunity to grab money; as long as you have a certain level of technology skills and knowledge, you can easily turn the brainchild of others' hard work into a tool to make money. But from the perspective of copyright holders, NFT is something that they love and hate at the same time: if they can be the first one to mint their works into NFT, it's such a good opportunity to establish a stylish image for themselves. It's likely to win both fame and fortune, and ideally, in just one shoot. But if someone with ulterior motives has done that before they do, then they can only watch they works sell in DeFi territory, sigh, and countless regard.
One should note that the NFT world is unlike the real world, in which the IP owner could sue the perpetrators according to the copyright regulations or law; but in the blockchain world, everything is anonymous and irreversible, it is impossible for you to dig out the perpetrators nor to take any further actions. And yes, you can solicit the “original edition” after someone else acquire a big sale, but this is like gambling on whether people who have bought the 'pirated edition' are willing to pay again for the 'genuine version'.
Issueing NFTs or not is no longer a question for copyright holders, but a mandatory 'when to do' question. The longer you ponder, the higher risk you face. Take it or leave it!
