NFTs or non-fungible tokens are the sensation of the year. There are tremendously memorable NFT sales throughout this year 2021. But also, what seemed to be a salvation for many artists to give a new prism to their art, has become almost a nightmare because many people plagiarize original works without the artist knowing it and without the platforms where the plagiarism is sold are taking action.
On Twitter in September, an account was created that already has about 8,000 followers and where its creators are dedicated to publishing the works that have been copied in NFT. Is named @NFTtheft (NFT theft) and its goal is to “document plagiarism, fraud and other issues in the NFT / crypto scene. If you see scammers selling stolen work, let us know. Keep sharing your art! “, As described by its creators.
For example, this account found out yesterday that a week after the folks who run @TheRealStanLee announced a series of Stan Lee’s NFTs, there are already several copied projects on the NFT markets days before the official launch. And again, they point out that OpenSea.io is where they are sold.
It’s been a week since the people who run @TheRealStanLee‘s twitter account announced a series of Stan Lee NFTs. Let’s do a quick check and oh my … there are already several copyminted projects listed on NFT marketplaces days before the official release. That sounds about right. https://t.co/qnT9hWsGW9
– NFT thefts (@NFTtheft) December 27, 2021
In addition to what the creators of this Twitter account are discovering, anyone can do the same and post it on their own Twitter profile. If you want to be one of the people looking for these plagiarisms or it has happened to you, you can post it and tag this profile to share the information.
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A petition on change.org to stop this
The protests are not limited to Twitter. There is also a proposal on Change.org, specifically aimed at OpenSea.io, the best known NFT sales platform and where, according to the accusations, there are many published plagiarisms.
According to the creators of this proposal they say, “whether you love or hate the idea of NFT art, we all agree that no one should be able to upload art they do not own. And they ask to sign the petition” to demand opensea.io , the largest NFT market, which adds verification steps to ensure art belongs to uploader. Also that it establishes monetary sanctions (which will be paid to the original creator) when these plagiarisms are discovered on the web.
A few days ago, an artist victim of these copies that are sold complained that “the reporting process is not intuitive, and the responsibility of proving that I am the artist / owner / creator rests with me, which seems wrong to me, that if I find out. The creation part of NFT should be more rigorous. ”
The proposal from this change.org (which has not had much success of signatures so far) is that OpenSea.io imitate other similar platforms that have taken action. For example, makersplace.com uses Civic identity verification, powered by Artificial Intelligence, combined with human review to ensure that users are real. A user has to upload an official identity document, such as a passport photo or driver’s license, and pass the verification process before they can upload artwork.