Exclusive

X Marketplace's new platform streamlines the licensing of NFT IPs

Quick Take

  • Holders of supported NFT collections can list their NFT for free on the site for projects to hire.
  • Projects looking to license IP can also post ads for NFTs.

X Marketplace launched a platform for linking NFT holders with projects requiring NFT IP, making it easier for holders to make money off of their holdings.

Holders of supported collections — currently, Yuga Labs, Azuki, CloneX, IlluminatiNFT, Finiliar, Stickmen Toys and Swampverse — can list their NFT for free on the site for projects to hire. Projects looking to license IP can also post ads for NFTs.

X Marketplace, which launched in January, started as a multi-chain NFT marketplace before pivoting to focusing on Ethereum. It's also one of several companies proposing to create a bespoke market place for the ApeCoin DAO.

The launch of its IP platform comes as debates rage over the best approaches to NFT IP and commercial licensing. The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has been at the forefront of this, with holders able to using their NFT's IP commercially. Holders have notably used the images in music videos, restaurants and TV shows.. Yuga Labs gives commercial rights to BAYC NFT holders, and in August, it also extended such rights to holders of Meebits and CryptoPunks NFTs, two collections it purchased from Larva Labs earlier in the year. 

Not all NFT collections offer IP rights to holders, however. Moonbirds came under considerable criticism from its community when it switched to a creative commons CC0 copyright model last month. This effectively put the artwork used in the NFTs into the public domain for anyone to use for free.

There still remain hurdles to licensing out IP however, X Marketplace co-founder Bradley Zastrow told The Block.

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“The problem today is that IP rights are a large part of the NFT value proposition but with limited opportunity to monetize it. We are making the IP discovery process easier by integrating an IP marketplace within our existing platform," he said.

Many of these agreements are currently being made through platforms like Twitter, where projects and holders reach out to each other individually, Zastrow said. 

“The discovery process is a little bit clunky and it ends up being a little bit more like shouting into the void," he said.

X Marketplace isn't the only firm trying to solve this problem. In July, Bored Jobs launched to help BAYC holders — and others — "put their apes to work" through connecting projects and holders. 

 


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Callan Quinn is an NFT, gaming and metaverse reporter. She started her career working for the expat magazine City Weekend in Guangzhou, China. She also has worked as a business journalist in the UK, Somaliland and the republic of Georgia. Before joining The Block, she was a freelance journalist covering the Chinese tech industry. She speaks Mandarin, French and German. Get in touch via Twitter @quinnishvili or email [email protected].