Sign the petition! It’s time to restore royalties so creators can earn a living
If Web3 is known for anything, it’s for the idea that it’s a place where creators and users come together in a vibrant ecosystem of interconnected decentralized applications powered by blockchain to put power into the hands of people and to move away from centralized control.
But in recent weeks we seem to be drawing perilously close to dashing that dream.
And this time, the reason is not another crypto scandal or DeFi mishegoss. Instead, it’s because of market forces that are abrogating the implicit agreement between creators and collectors about the value that each brings to the table.
On Feb. 17, OpenSea dropped its policy of enforcing creator royalties on NFTs and defaulted all collections without on-chain royalty enforcement to optional creator royalties starting at 0.5%. The move came in response to marketplace competitor Blur, a trading platform that does not require buyers to pay royalties prescribed by the creator, as well as smaller upstarts like Yawww that pay 0% royalties.
For Web3 to flourish, we need a healthy ecosystem where both collectors and creators come away winners. Others have written smart essays about the topic, including:
Deadfellaz’s Betty on Defending Artist Royalties
GordonGoner: On Marketplaces and Creator Royalties
Dorian Batycka: Op-ed: Why we need more NFT royalties and better marketplaces
As Dorian put it: “My hope is that an open-source, more decentralized NFT marketplace will emerge. That the rat race to the bottom of digital creation takes a U-turn. Artists deserve better, the promises of blockchain should not turn out to be a lie.”
So I won’t belabor the point. But I will point to an event, a petition, and an upcoming launch.
The event!
A project I’m involved with, Expressions, is holding a special event on Monday, April 10, 4 pm Eastern in the Decentraland metaverse’s Crypto Valley art gallery. Titled “Let’s Save the Creator Economy: An Ideastorm,” the free event will be one part town hall, one part social party and NFT art drop preview. (We can’t share the details of the drop yet.)
Come on by as we hold a 30-minute pass-the-mic session to foster ideas on how best to support creatives in Web3. Following the open mic, DJ Henny (@hennywubs) will spin tunes for 40 minutes as participants vibe to the works of top artists from the Caribbean, Africa and from under underrepresented art communities.
The petition!
I just dropped my first petition on change.org in years. (It hasn’t changed that much since I interviewed the founder back in the day.)
Please consider signing to Support the Web3 Creator Community.
The upcoming launch!
I can’t tell you much about this yet until our big reveal after more than a year in stealth mode. But for an inside look at what’s dropping soon, see The Creators Project at https://ambr.live.
Check back here soon to learn the details of what our global team will be rolling out.
