Yuga Labs grants IP rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits holders

Months after acquiring the CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT collections, Yuga Labs announced this week that it is set to release the long-anticipated intellectual property (IP) licensing agreement. 

They also picked up 423 CryptoPunks and 1,711 Meebits in the deal for an undisclosed amount. At the same time, ownership of some of the most valuable NFT projects are transferred to Yuga Labs. 

For holders of these NFTs, the licensing agreement grants them full commercialization and personalization rights to create products based on their NFTs, a privilege that was previously privy to the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Yuga Labs informed CryptoPunks and Meebits holders in a Tweet that the official highbrow assets settlement is now live and that the main goal of such an agreement was to do the right thing for the community.

Yuga Labs said that as a result of the acquisition they would grant CryptoPunks and Meebits owners 'the same commercial rights that BAYC and MAYC owners enjoy.'

'By handing over these rights, we're further aligning CryptoPunks and Meebits with the web3 ethos, and we expect a wide range of third party developers and community creators to incorporate CryptoPunks and Meebits into their web3 projects,' they said.

Moving forward, CryptoPunks and Meebits holders will also have the freedom to use their NFTs to create projects such as ‘TV shows, food trucks, clothing, and more – just like the Bored Ape Yacht Club community has been able to do,’ Yuga Labs said.

For example, Seth Green’s show based on his recently-returned Bored Ape NFT as well as Snoop Dog and Emienem’s new music video based on their own Bored Ape avatars. 

There has been controversy surrounding commercialization rights for NFT holders. Recently, IP rights of popular NFT project Moonbird’s have been taken away from its holders due to the project’s switch to a public domain and its adoption of a Collective Commons license without the knowledge of their community. In turn, allowing the replication and commercial use of NFT artwork from both Oddities and Moonbirds. This decision sparked criticism among the NFT Twitter community, who believed they had exclusive rights to their NFTs. 

Photo: Yuga Labs