Maybe you are still looking for a Christmas present? LaCollection offers in association with the British Museum digital images of Japanese prints. You can purchase The Wave by Hokusai today for more than 5.000 EUR as an NFT (Non-Fungible Token).
The NFT represents on blockchain an Artwork (the digital image of an original artwork) and certifies that each Artwork is unique. The terms of the platform clearly state that buying an Artwork on the platform does not mean that the user becomes the holder of the intellectual property rights attached to the Artwork. If the Artwork relates to a physical object the user has no rights of ownership in that physical object.
Of course, there are no intellectual property rights or copyrights related anymore to The Wave (Hokusai died in 1849). The image is available for free on Pixabay. You can also buy a poster on the internet for 15 or 25 EUR.
The buyer is granted a worldwide royalty free license to display the Artwork privately for the purpose of promoting the buyer’s ownership in the Artwork, but the buyer cannot commercialize merchandise that includes the Artwork. These terms make sense if the Artwork is protected under copyright, but many works are not protected under copyright anymore.
NFT platforms can have value for fundraising, artist support, fan club development, and in some cases even for art works. In other cases the added value belongs to the cryptocurrency universe. Value is what a damned fool will pay for it. Merry Christmas.
