Scams, Art Theft and NFTs

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[tumbke]

Deviant art has long been called trashy, but i appreciate them actually doing something about this. It shows how genuine they still are when it comes to art.

[BlackHayateTheThird]

The moment I read that Qinni, who passed away a couple years ago, had her art sold without her living relative's permission, whose late art expressed her grief of being terminally ill, was made to profit in the NFT system, I was absolutely against NFTs and anyone who blindly supported them. Profiting off of someone else's art work is one, disgusting thing, but to do it to an artist who has passed away, not even that long ago, and used her art to help her and others is abhorrent.
Thanks for the video Brad, it's much appreciated

[MANGLORIOUS]

I like how u talked about deviant art protecting its users. A thing to note is that beyond the free trial u have to become a core member to still have your art scanned for.

[eknib]

Thanks for making this video. Hearing successful NFT artist tout how good NFTs (or crypto) are is like listening to someone who won the lottery saying how buying lottery tickets is the future of finance.

[ssnekky]

My first experience with NFTs was with stolen art. NFT bros scare me as well, they just ignore all the negative impacts and say “INVEST INVEST INVEST!!!”

[BadRobotBrain]

Thank you for perfectly articulating my own thoughts on the NFT game. I too would like to make money off my art, but the culture seems too scammy to be legit.

[jessebes]

This is one of the reasons I like your channel so much, Brad. You are enthusiastic about art and tech, but critical, and not afraid to openly say when you don't support or endorse something that you previously did endorse. Like with the Stonehouse situation too. You're a cool guy💕

[jasonbourne]

I have a similar stand with Brad on this whole NFT ordeal. For me NFT by the idea itself ain't bad, it's the way that some people use it that wrong.
As an artist myself, NFT should be used to sell GENUINE art from fellow artist, not tons of auto-generated half-assed JPEG that's used for trading, more so STEALING other people art and sell it with an excuse "hey you didn't bother to sell it, so I'm allowed to sell it LOL".
Lots of modern technology play with human common sense, and twist that sense to make things that should be wrong becomes right and normal.
NFT have the same analogy with kitchen knife, it should be used to make delicious food, but it also can be used to stab and hurt people. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you're right to do it.

So again for me, NFT by itself actually not bad (though the technology need to be optimized to decrease resource needed), but the way that some people end up using it thats wrong.

[yuihoshi]

your original NFT video was the first introduction I had about that topic and since you talked so positively about it I thought it was great, but not long after I started learning about all the negative sides of NFTs and I'm so glad you finally made another video about it. Right now most people who are making big money on NFTs are just mass producing cheap art with assets and it's not even special anymore, it has become another quick cash grab and we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. All crypto related things in general are just a way for the rich to become richer and it doesn't help anyone but them...

[Tabootrinket]

NFT smelled fishy from the very first day I heard about it to me.
It's the kind of thing that forces people to invest time in it in order not to be steamrolled by it.
You're an artist and have never heard of NFT or don't want anything to do about it ? Well, people can and might steal the ownership of your work using NFTs.

NFTs basically erase any form of ownership on anything and slap their own seal of ownership on top of it. Just like what governments do on people's inherited lands which aren't registered in their database (even though it's theirs for generations).

[Beanie]

Thanks for updating us on your change of heart on NFTs. There's a lot of sketchy misinformation, sleazy press releases from game companies itching to make a buck, and well-intentioned but complex breakdowns of blockchains' environmental impact. I don't fully understand it myself, but from what I can gather from multiple reliable sources, the tech itself is promising but in its current form, there's no direct benefit to artist or consumer, only to tech bros jumping in early to cash out. A "minted" piece of media does not signify copyright ownership (nobody cares about a hyperlink, guys), resource-heavy unregulated transactions of unbacked cryptocurrencies are a security nightmare, it's all just...madness, really.

The extreme exaltation from NFT proponents just screams of "C'mon everybody, jump on this hot trend so I can prove I wasn't jilted out of my life savings for buying a glorified Picrew like a fool!". Between the art theft, ugly lions, company shilling, hell even the graphics card shortage, I'm sick of hearing about it (unless, again, it's from someone expressing a change of heart, like yourself). We'd all benefit from doing some honest research instead of getting swept up in the hype.

This was long huh. Have a good day anyone who made it this far!

[rembrandx]

The baseball analogy was a great way to visualize the unregulated and dangerous nature of NFT's, well done!
Have you seen Folding Idea's video on this? It's a really comprehensive yet in-depth overview of scamming/theft and NFT's. Very enlightning stuff.

[Asaji]

Brad, thank you so much for this video, first and foremost, because you are being honest about your change of mind about NFTees, while most artists jumping on the bandwagon just announce their limited editions and play deaf on critics or never speak about it again, you shared your experience and research that lead you go back up on this idea, I’d wish more artists had your integrity and shared their experiences, but I’m afraid they are betting on people forgetting they did this and act like nothing’s happened.

I really hope artists that have change of mind about their NF/Ts come open about it and learn to be less apprehensive about having bad decisions, all of it artists and creators have had bad experiences, but we often don’t share it because we too much aware of our social media image and are afraid to be perceived as “haters” or “contrarians”, but I think it would be so much easy if they just admitted it was a bad move and said “I promise I’ll research better next time”, but alas, that’s a very rare thing to happen.

Or, IDK maybe I liked your Baseball park analogy because I like baseball and don’t like being mugged, but that’s just me.

[-briggsy-]

Thank you for making this video brad, it’s important for people to bring attention to issues like these, you’ve always been an huge inspiration to me, again thank you

[rybfish]

I hear you, but as old guy too (flash designer - remember that), I think what we are seeing is "growing pains". Hear me out, the internet is already broken in many places and the good thing is this technolgy is contantly changing and improving. It's not the end but its the very beginning. Good video.

[malica_mistyface]

I really need this kind of videos to understand NFTs, I have been confused about it for months now

I was almost tempt to join in when my classmates ask if I want to make the drawings for them (for NFTs), I ultimately turn it down because I was just genuinely unsure about it

[ShantanuKumar]

I have been having the same thoughts about NFTs. You put it together perfectly.
I too am holding back on minting an NFT, for now.

[MADMadisson]

You put into words exactly how I've been feeling about NFT's. There need to be rules/policing of some sort for me as an artist to feel safe in that space.

[onjikun]

I'll admit I was kinda intrigued about the whole NFT/crypto art craze around this time last year. I even minted an NFT myself on Rarible back in April, just to see if I could make it there, and my decision on whether or not to continue pursuing NFTs depended entirely on whether or not that NFT sold. Of course, it never did sell, and with the ridiculous gas fee to mint the thing, it ultimately came out to being a total loss. I would've burned it and washed my hands of the whole NFT craze entirely, but I don't want to waste any more money on gas fees in order to do so, so I just left it.

Since then, as I've kept hearing more and more about the art theft and other crypto scams, and especially since seeing the recent Folding Ideas video (highly recommended if you have 2+ hours to spare), I've decided to check out of the whole NFT mess entirely. So, I say, No F***ing Thanks.

[marisssArt]

i think you are viewing the NFT from the point of view of a small artis, which is more vulnerable, don't have the support of followers or means to deal with the art thief... thank you Brand for be empatic and for thinking instead of let you go with the flow...