How to protect your IP rights as a web3 Creator

As a creator working in the Web3 space, it's important to understand how to protect your intellectual property (IP) and ensure that you receive the appropriate recognition for your work.
 
After all, your creative efforts are a valuable asset that deserve to be protected. But with the complexities of digital media and the challenges of enforcing your rights in the online world, it can be difficult to know where to start.
 
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to safeguard your IP rights as a Web3 creator as well as platforms and resources available for Creators to utilize and ensure those protections are enforced. 

1. Understand your rights:
The first step in protecting your IP is to understand what rights you have as a creator. In most cases, you have the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and publicly perform your creative work. This means that others cannot use your work without your permission.
If you discover that your work is being used without your permission, you should take action. This may involve contacting the party using the work and/or contacting the platform hosting the work and requesting its removal. You may also want to consider registering your work with the appropriate copyright office to establish your ownership and make it easier to enforce your rights, which we’ll cover in more detail in this article. 

2. Attach terms and conditions:
Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions is a contract that specifies how others can use your work. For example, a customized terms and conditions document could outline that your work can only be used for a specific number of copies, for personal but not commercial use, for a limited time or in a specific geographic region.
This specificity removes speculation about the use of your intellectual property and can help you control how your work is used — not to mention ensure that you receive appropriate royalties.
Aspen gives creators the option to attach transferable, on-chain terms and conditions when they create their collection. Choose from a list of templates curated by industry leading legal experts or customise your own. These cover a wide variety of themes and have been carefully written by experts to match your business needs.  Attaching terms means purchasers of the NFT are required to accept the terms prior to the NFT being transferred to their wallet. This provides Creators with a legal basis for protecting their work.
To learn how National Lampoon used Customized Terms and Conditions for their recent ReCover mint, read more HERE.

3. Register your work:
In many cases, you can register your creative work with the appropriate copyright office to establish your ownership. While copyright and NFTs are still a thorny issue, registering the artwork or other IP used to generate your NFTs can be an important step in protecting your IP and enforcing your rights.
To register your work with a copyright office, you will typically need to submit a completed application, along with a non-refundable filing fee and a copy of the work you want to register. The application process and requirements may vary depending on the country or region where you are located. In some cases, you may be able to register their work online through the copyright office's website. In other cases, you may need to submit a physical application and copy of the work by mail. It's important to carefully review the copyright office's requirements and follow their instructions to ensure that the application is completed correctly.

4. Mint and transact on platforms that enforce Creator Royalties:
Web3 collectibles are at a crucial intersection. They are quickly growing beyond the trading of NFT-driven profile pictures (PFPs) to solidifying their place as the home for next-generation storytelling with standardized digital property rights.
To date, Creators have been limited in their ability to pursue royalties enforcement due to a glaring roadblock: current state NFTs are incapable of synthesizing real world documents and contracts with blockchain backed tokens in a way that provides all parties legal certainty.
Aspen’s on-chain terms and conditions deliver creators the first legal basis to protecting their rights. Further, royalties will always be paid on Aspen, full stop. 

Protecting your IP as a Web3 creator is important for the success of your creative efforts. By understanding your rights, embedding Terms and Conditions into your NFTs, registering your creative work and using platforms that enforce creator royalties — you can safeguard your IP and ensure that you are properly compensated for your work. 
 
While it may take some effort to put these measures in place, the benefits of protecting your IP and enforcing your rights are well worth it. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your creative work is valued and respected in the broader Web3 community.