What Creative Communities Should Know about CC0
By: Justin Alanís, Co-Founder
When I minted my Bored Ape back in 2021, I knew nothing about the concept of CC0. Since CC0 was introduced, it has become a popular discussion topic, with many projects using the model and daily conversations on Twitter.
CC0 stands for “Creative Commons Zero” and refers to “no copyright reserved.” It means that the NFT lives in the public domain, or has the ability to license content freely. It allows for the commercialization of an NFT. I tend to compare CC0 to franchising models. NFTs in a CC0 model is essentially making each NFT owner a franchisee, but without much of the oversight or overhead of running a franchise - a permissionless franchise where the upfront cost is merely the cost of the NFT.
The value of that NFT is dependent on the broader brand and the individual NFTs ability to monetize and create its own brand. To have a successful CC0 project, there must be people in the community willing to build personalities, companies, and brands with their NFTs. The NFTs themselves need to be compelling and the community needs to be thriving. CC0 also means that anyone, from anywhere, can build a brand using their NFT. There are few, if any, restrictions given that these are trustlessly owned digitally native assets. These dynamics create interesting opportunities and challenges for CC0 projects where new models are still forming and evolving.
Dozens of NFT projects have a thriving ecosystem of CC0 projects being built by the community. The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection is, to date, the most successful CC0 brand in the NFT space. Here is a map of all the various projects being built around the BAYC universe. In addition to BAYC, there are projects like Nouns and Fluf World that have active and thriving CC0 projects being built on top of their NFT projects.
There are clearly benefits for CC0 projects, but there are also challenges that should be considered. The benefits of CC0 are :
Open and Permissionless: CC0 creates opportunities for anyone, from anywhere, to get involved in building a project. There are few barriers to entry. This can lead to a more diverse and global community which can result in a more interesting and innovative project.
Ecosystem Expansion: The Creative Commons Zero model creates opportunities for DAOs to form and support the ecosystem around a project.
New Monetization Models: CC0 also allows NFTs to be more easily monetized. NFTs in a CC0 model can be sold, leased, or traded more easily than those in a traditional copyright model. This flexibility creates opportunities for NFT owners to generate revenue in new and creative ways.
Spurring Entrepreneurship and Creativity: One of the greatest benefits of the blockchain and CC0 is the reduction of barriers to entrepreneurship and creativity.
CC0 can also be a double-edged sword. The same factor that allows for easy monetization can also be seen as a negative. Here are some potential downfalls of the model:
Brand Protection: The first challenge is that, given the “no copyright reserved” status of CC0 NFTs, it can be difficult to protect your brand. While this is also a challenge for traditional businesses, it is magnified in the NFT space given the borderless nature of the internet and the ease with which digital content can be copied and redistributed. This means that it is important to have a plan for how you will protect your brand and enforce your trademarks.
NFT Owner Commitment: If an NFT is left to individuals to monetize, it may be more likely to be sold or traded than used to build a long-term relationship with a project or community. This could lead to short-term thinking and less commitment to the project from NFT owners.
Brand Dilution: Another potential challenge with CC0 is that anyone, from anywhere, can build a brand using an NFT. This could lead to brand dilution if there are too many people trying to build similar brands or licensing their NFT to big brands.
Big Brand Co-Opt: Big brands could enter the project, buy an NFT, and use the associated NFT without any of the benefits going back to the original creator or investors (aside from broader brand recognition, of course).
Equity Holders vs NFT Holders: It's evident that when the majority of investment returns to a centralized company, like Yuga Labs or Proof, their priority is to generate value for their business' equity holders rather than NFT holders. Without any financing directed towards NFT holders to assist with commercializing their NFTs, these companies depend on the community to expand their brand. Thus far, Proof has only provided 1% of its total funding to Moonbirds DAO while Yuga Labs hasn't shared any portion of its $500M+ cash reserves with its respective NFT community (unless you consider the airdrop of $APE coin a form of funding).
Bad Actors: If bought by the wrong person, an NFT has the potential to represent something harmful to a community. For example, what if a cult or other radical group used an NFT as its symbol?
Although the space is beginning to gradually see benefits from CC0 projects, nothing groundbreaking has happened yet. It's still unclear if this model can be successful over the long term or whether the negative aspects of CC0 models will eventually overcome the benefits.
While we see a lot of potential in CC0 here at Story DAO, we understand that different projects might need different models of CC0. Before deciding on anything, it's important to weigh the pros and cons for your project specifically. Additionally, you may want to consider hybrid models that could work around some of the drawbacks while still keeping all the benefits. At Story DAO, we are experimenting to solve some of the more fundamental underlying opportunities of CC0 with various hybrid models that may also include ownership of IP. Some topics we are actively thinking about include:
The role of the centralized company: What role do centralized companies like Story DAO Labs play in the CC0 process?
Community Controlled CC0: Should the NFT holders and the community work together to create successful NFT brands? Should there be an application process? Should there be some sort of revenue share? How can the community support these projects?
IP Building: How do we incentivize the broader community to deepen the IP layer of the NFT project through story building and other media forms to create deeper IP that we, as a community, will want to protect more stringently than fully open CC0 projects?
Our goal is to ensure that the NFT holders who comprise the DAO are supported, the IP is strengthened, and the community is empowered. We are still so early in the evolution of how NFT systems can successfully operate at scale, but because Story DAO is building a platform that enables new stories to thrive and grow, we will likely be experimenting with many different types of CC0 models within our communities. There is no one size fits all. Projects may have slightly different needs and opportunities for growth. New models and technology will evolve, and we are excited to help push the entire ecosystem forward.
We hope this article helped you understand the basics of Creative Commons Zero and how it pertains to NFTs and creative communities. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us on Twitter or Discord. If you want to help us think through our own CC0 models, please hop into our discord and let us know your thoughts!