Could this come in the form of DRM (digital rights management)? This would make perfect sense and I'll explain why.
Thanks to some leaked documents, and not the good kind of documents, we now know that DC is looking at exploring the NFT space. When and how is anyone's guess could this will be huge for the comic industry that was already enjoying a resurgence prior to the pandemic.
DC Comics Hints at Entering the NFT Space
This info was made public recently when a copy of what vaguely resembles a cease and desist notice was recently sent to DC artists & free lancers. Thank you internet, we now have a copy of this letter below.
In it DC's Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs, Jay Kogan, gently reminds his companies freelancers that selling NFT's containing DC characters would be a big no-no!
We expect the participating of DC's freelance talent will be an integral component of the NFT program that DC puts into place.
NFT Program?...You don't say!
What this means for DC's comics or NFT's I don't know.
If this initiative really does still need to be examined, this tells me they are behind but it's on the radar which means they could still beat other publishers to the punch.
DC could enter with any number of offering, considering the amount of material they have access to. I'm certain we will see digital collectible cards, licensed games with in-game collectibles, entire comic book available as NFT's or potential a form of exclusive Digital Rights Management.
Cease and Desist Issued to DC Artists & Free Lancers
It looks like the letter appeared shortly after former DC artist [José Delbo completed an NFT auction](https://cointelegraph.com/news/former-dc-comic-book-artist-fetches-1-85m-auctioning-wonder-woman-nfts) containing Wonder Woman illustration worth amounts in the area of $1.85M
That's a massive haul and would definitely catch a look from DC's legal team. I think artists have now been given fair warning that they don't have the rights to these characters and they would be considered intellectual property of the company.
For Charity?
Turns out José Delbo committed a portion of his auction sales to a good cause, donating apx $23,000 to an organization called Girls That Code. That's pretty awesome if you ask me!
Not The First Comic Book NFT's
DC will not be the first comic book publisher to mint digital collectibles. It's possible they will be first among major labels but small independent publishers have started to release NFT's on thier own.
VanCity Outbreak
One example of this is indie comic book VanCity Outbreak by Whiplash comics out of Vancouver, Canada. They recently released digital collectibles related to their comic book on the Wax Blockchain.
Vancity Outbreak is a graphic novel about a deadly virus that turns victims into ravenous undead cannibals. Whiplash Comics uses real actors and real locations. We tell stories through the medium of a camera and create stunning visuals through composing the photographs. The result is a truly unique style that pushes the boundaries of storytelling and is further enhanced by being released as a limited edition NFT Collectible Series on the WAX blockchain.
I first started following the project in the fall when it was announced they would be releasing their Zombie themed comic digital collectibles. I love Zombies and I love NFT's so I bought up some first series packs.
They model involves selling a "survival drop" for each series, with that in your wallet you'll randomly receive comic book related drops. The more drop cards you have the more NFT's you receive. Beyond that it's on you to continue collecting and complete your collection through secondary markets.
Could This Replace Traditional Digital Comics Completely?
Have you ever purchased digital comic books from a shop like https://m.comixology.com ?
I have and what you get is access to essentially a pdf of the comic that you can view through the companies portal. This presents some of the problems that blockchain and NFT's are able to solve.
If the publishing company or distributor goes out of business and ceases to exist you no longer have access to your purchased comics. When you've finished reading them what happens to them now, you're not able to sell them to someone else and use that money to purchase new comic books.
With comics aa NFT's you totally could! Finished reading the book and fancy using its value to purchase something else, sell it! Hey it's 10/10 mint condition so you could ask full price, or more if it's lets say a limited edition variant (provable scarcity).. the possibilities are endless.
Could NFT's revolutionize digital comic book collecting, yes absolutely. When? #soon
Ciao for now,
@agr8buzz
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