‘Stop protecting what you’ve created, and you will win’
If you create a product that cannibalizes your existing line up, are you giving yourself a leg up, or shooting yourself in the foot?
It can go either way.
Apple famously cannibalized the iPod (the product that saved them from bankruptcy) with the iPhone.
Nintendo did the same to the DS, with the Switch.
This thinking has now found its way to the NFT space, where big projects like Moonbirds and XCOPY are transitioning to Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licenses.
Which means anyone and everyone can create products using their imagery - regardless of whether they own the original NFT.
Theoretically, someone could clone these NFT projects one for one, with no legal consequences.
...so why allow it?
Their thinking is this: the growing use and proliferation of the imagery will lead to broader cultural significance, which will then translate to greater value in the original NFT.
Kind of like how the constant reprinting/remixing/reimagining of The Mona Lisa, only makes the original work more culturally significant (and valuable).
Moonbirds creator, Kevin Rose, had this to say:
“The default gut reaction is to protect what you’ve created...
But Web3 is a chance to reboot and reexamine everything back to first principles.
A chance to say that others don’t have to fail for us to win.”
We love that ethos, let's hope it works!