What are creative Common Zero（CC0）NFTs and their implications

[TL;DR]

🔹 CC0 NFTs are NFTs that operate with the CC0 copyright model in which the original owner permits anyone to use their NFT collections for free.

🔹 When an NFT creator assigns CC0 to their work, the work automatically belongs to the public domain and is open for anybody to build upon without giving credit to the original creator.

🔹 CC0 NFTs can be built on and modified by anyone giving room for expansion and creative innovations.

🔹 For brand growth and recognition, NFT project teams and creators who choose the CC0 model must actively advocate the use of the brand and recruit more creators and projects to build on their work.

🔹 CC0 NFTs involve a large community and would be of great benefit to scale the monetization goal of NFTs.

🔹 The first significant NFT project to open the door to the CC0 licensing model was the "Nouns" project, followed by others like Moonbirds, Cryptoadz, Cryptoteddies, and Loot.





Introduction

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Over the past several years, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have gained popularity as the answer to issues with digital ownership and intellectual property (IP) protection.

However, with the recent discovery, NFT ownership adopts numerous forms, ranging from the total copyright, where NFT owners generate income by charging other artists, businesses, and brands to use their artworks, to the CC0 NFTs, where their owners allow anyone to use works for free on permission.

In the same way that the Web3 community has heavily emphasized transparency and openness with code, NFT creators and teams are doing the same with art hence, the CC0 NFTs.


What are CC0 NFTs?

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CC0 NFTs were coined from the "Creative Commons Zero" licensing model. In the CC0 model, creators relinquish ownership rights to their artworks, permitting others to freely develop new works of art, products, or brands on top of them.

CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) NFTs are NFTs that operate with the CC0 copyright model in which the original owner allows anyone to use the NFT for any purpose, both commercial and non-commercial.

When artists issue CC0 on their work, creators declare them as belonging in the public domain; hence, anyone can build on them without attributing them to the original artist.

The first significant NFT project to open the door to the CC0 licensing model was the "Nouns" project, followed by others, including Moonbirds, Cryptoadz, Cryptoteddies, and Loot.

Other NFT projects adopting the CC0 IP model are Blitmaps, goblintown, booty, and amphores.


Why are CC0 NFTs important?

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CC0 NFTs can be built on and modified by anyone giving room for expansion and creative innovations. This is possible because these works are free to access, and creators permit others to use them for any purpose.

Moreso, with CC0 adoption, artworks, and edition sizes are easily found and traced on the network. Since everything remains public and on the blockchain, the proof of who created it is irrefutable. Hence, Creative commons zero largely helps remedy issues that creep up regarding copyright.

Another reason CC0 NFTs are so important is their ability to foster community growth in general.
With the combined efforts of everyone participating, new intellectual property can be created, and each participant in the community adds value to it.




Implications of CC0 NFTs

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Just as no open-source software project could have scaled without a strong codebase, CC0 NFT projects need a strong creator community to gain recognition, draw inspiration from the original NFTs, and establish them as household brands. This is only possible through the deliberate community-building efforts of the NFT project teams and creators.

Hence, to gain brand expansion and recognition, NFT project teams and creators who choose the CC0 model must actively promote the use of the brand and recruit more creators and projects.

By choosing the CC0 approach, the NFT creators lessen the responsibility placed on their non-fungible token holders to promote the brand. Instead, the more significant responsibility is on the original creators to provide brand, product, and artistic extensions to their NFTs.

NFT owners without the CC0 model often charge organizations, brands, and creative projects before permitting them to use the non-fungible tokens. But other non-fungible token owners who follow the CC0 zero-fee model are often dissatisfied with no profit, which causes short-term business downturns for the entire community.


Future possibilities with CC0 NFTs

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NFTs, still in their early stage, have shown how brands can be monetized. However, if NFTs are just relying on a small community to build the brand's distribution capability, their monetization goal will be far from achievable. As more co-creation models arise and more platforms to actively promote become popular, CC0 NFTs would be of great benefit to scale the brand outreach and recognition.

Another future possibility of CC0 NFTs is their application in the interoperability of non-fungible tokens. The NFT industry is still fragmented across various blockchains– like Solana and Ethereum, and there is a need for better interoperability across chains. As these infrastructural and community collaboration layers become more advanced, CC0 NFTs will have the rails they need to expand their brand beyond a community of 10,000 NFT owners.


Final Thoughts

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CC0 NFTs are the ultimate door-opener and the most versatile forms of NFTs, which adopt the decentralization protocol of value creation in the world of web3. Following CC0 standards, NFT creators key into transparency by making their works on public domains and in as many jurisdictions as possible. Also, creators have a whole new and innovative way of showcasing their unique works, making it easier to accept modifications.



Author: M. Olatunji, Gate.io Researcher
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