A famous actor and his Ape have been separated, and the TV show meant for them both is now on ice.
Covered:
- Family Guy Legend Gets Ape Stolen
- TV Show Based on IP on Ice
‘Family Guy’ Legend Gets Ape Stolen
As we know, with NFTs and with apes, when you own the ape, and it’s in your wallet, you have the IP. That means you can make t-shirts with that ape, shoes, billboards, or even TV shows. That was what Seth Green had planned for his BAYC #8398. Unfortunately, that ape has been phished out of his wallet, and thus, he no longer has the IP to make the TV show. The below sale was when someone bought it from the scammer who bilked Green out of his ape.
Bored Ape Yacht Club #8398 just sold for 106.500 ETH.#NFT #BAYC #BoredApeYC #NFTCommunity #NFTProject #NFTdrop #NFTCollection #NFTartist pic.twitter.com/EeQWYK905B
— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeSaleBot) May 8, 2022
Green spoke to Gary Vaynerchuk about the unfortunate incident saying: “I bought that ape in July 2021, and have spent the last several months developing and exploiting the IP to make it into the star of this show,” Green told Vaynerchuk. “Then days before — his name is Fred, by the way — days before he’s set to make his world debut, he’s literally kidnapped.” The unique TV show was supposed to feature a range of characters from a collection of NFTs Green had been amassing.
.@SethGreen new trailer for his new show, keep your eyes peeled👀@BoredApeYC @GutterCatGang @veefriends pic.twitter.com/ZzYN87HYWA
— FFVV1211.eth (@FFVV1211) May 21, 2022
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TV Show Based on IP on Ice
This combination of animated and real actors would make for an interesting show, especially with the cultural force of the NFT component. Green said he wanted to imagine a universe where “it doesn’t matter what you look like, what only matters is your attitude.” Green has been pleasing Twitter user @DarkWing84 for his ape back. This person, as mentioned above, bought the ape from the scammer. The loss of the ape has put the show on ice, due to the complications with the IP.
BAYC doesn’t actually transfer copyright *ownership* with Ape sales for one thing — buyers get a license while the copyright stays with the company. It’s not clear Yuga Labs couldn’t just revoke the license here, because “smart contracts” don’t really have established law yet. pic.twitter.com/XOt8uGRAp6
— Adi Robertson (@thedextriarchy) May 24, 2022
As noted above, the legality is complicated. The ownership is not transferred as an ape moves wallet to wallet. Buyers basically inherit a “license” to use the NFT as they wish, but the copyright stays with Yuga. Does “ownership” of the ape mean owning the non-fungible token in your wallet? It definitely seems like a complicated legal battle lies ahead for one of these incidents, whether it’s with Green’s ape or not.
One opinion is Green should definitely push forward with the show, and tie this whole ordeal in the arc of the character. As noted above, it would be hard to imagine the scammer or the new owner suing Green. Still, it is unexplored waters. Ah, such is the complicated life in crypto. I for one, think the show is actually a really cool idea and hope Green gets to reap the benefits of his creation, one way or another.
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