一文读懂 a16z 的“不能作恶”许可证,NFT知识产权界定的新基石

元宇宙之道Published on 2022-09-06Last updated on 2022-09-06

Abstract

看到“不能作恶”,你的第一反应是不是谷歌那句知名的口号:“Don't be Evil”(不作恶)?

近日,a16z 推出了一个免费、公开、名为“不能作恶”的许可证,旨在让NFT领域的知识产权界定更加明晰。在NFT炒作起落的背后,许可证标准协议的制定也许更值得我们关注,因为它直接影响着NFT及其相关IP在现实中的传播广度。

善恶难分,NFT IP 使用的模糊地带

看到“不能作恶”,你的第一反应是不是谷歌那句知名的口号:“Don't be Evil”(不作恶)?

但这次稍有不同。

a16z这个许可证,叫做“Can’t Be Evil”(不能作恶)。一字之差,意义产生了微妙的变化:

不作恶更像一种道德约束,在自觉、名声和信念的引导下,指导着我们“不应该做什么”;

不能作恶更像一种制度约束,在法律、条文和代码的基础上,指导着我们“不能做什么”。

是不是觉得扯远了?让我们来看一看NFT领域的现状。

你从项目方那里拿到了一个NFT,如果把这个NFT的图像、项目方的商标和Logo印在衣服上去卖钱,会违法吗?

如果只拿图像,不拿商标呢?

你很有可能给不出一个确定的答案。实际上,这涉及到一个知识产权(IP)的使用程度和范围的问题。

目前在NFT领域,基于IP,你能做什么(善),不能做什么(恶),界限和标准都是模糊的。而各家公司也都有自己的选择:

保守型:Larva Labs限制Crypto Punks的持有者们利用IP制作衍生产品,并限制使用其品牌/标识;

中规中矩型:Yuga Labs给予BAYC 的持有者们更大的IP自由和商业权利,让他们可以使用购买的NFT创造和售卖衍生产品,但不能使用BAYC的品牌名称和标识;

激进型:Mfers和Moonbirds则采用了CC0协议,甚至允许你不购买NFT、可以随意改造图片、可以使用logo和品牌、甚至可以随便画一张拿去售卖。

于是面向不同许可场景,NFT 领域亟需一种灵活、公开和多适配性的协议标准,来满足不同项目不同程度的许可要求。

而更多的NFT项目在创立时可能根本没有想过IP的许可问题,采用何种协议和限制方法更是混乱和模糊的。

而这次a16z的“不能作恶”许可协议,就是想把这种模糊变得更加明确。

不能作恶,从规范许可授权开始

让我们来看看a16z的“不能作恶”NFT许可协议具体是怎么做的。

一个最明显的特征是,该许可协议考虑了多种可能下,买方对NFT艺术品的权利。例如:

这些权利是否可能涉及独有性(只有买方可以选择如何使用他们的 NFT 艺术品,创作者放弃所有许可权利);

是否可能涉及商业权利(允许买方将其 NFT 用于商业目的的权利);

是否可能允许买家修改、改编和从他们购买的艺术品中创造衍生品(比如改变艺术品的外观或在不同的环境中使用它)...

这就赋予了NFT项目方可以根据自己的利益诉求,灵活设计许可协议的能力。相应的,针对上述情况的组合,a16z设置了6种协议选项,以规定不同条件下NFT所有者的权利:

CC0(“CBE-CC0”) ——根据 Creative Commons 开发的 CC0 1.0 Universal 条款放弃所有版权。

不保留创作者的独家商业权利(“CBE-ECR”) ——授予完全的独家商业权利,可以在不当场合使用(注:不当场合指的是不合法、欺诈、暴力等等负面场合)。创作者不保留任何使用权。

非排他性商业权利(“CBE-NECR”) ——授予全部非排他性商业权利,可以在不当场合使用。创作者保留使用权。

具有创作者保留和不当场合终止的非专有商业权利(“CBE-NECR-HS”) - 授予完整的非专有商业权利,不可在不当场合使用。创作者保留使用权。

个人许可证(“CBE-PR”) ——授予个人权利,仅为个人使用。

不当场合终止的个人许可证(“CBE-PR-HS”) ——授予个人权利,终止仇恨言论。

项目方在创建NFT时,完全可以选择上述中的某一种来规范对NFT IP的许可授权,在项目创建之初就明确指出用户在持有NFT后,IP相关的权利边界。

同时,尽管提供了多个选择,但也有可能某些NFT项目并不适用于这些选择,以及随着时间的推移,同一项目的NFT授权许可的需求也会发生变化。因此a16z创建这个“不能作恶”许可证的初衷是,把它当作创建许可生态系统的起点,随着创新和变化鼓励更多的标准和协议出现,并同步配套了法律入门 (PDF),来提供许多潜在修改的额外注意事项。

有据可循,代码层面的IP保护

在实操层面上,a16z已经将不能作恶许可证部署到Arweave(确保它们以公开、永久和不可变的方式存储),并且开源在了Github上,然后将它们中的每一个都合并到任何新的 NFT 项目都可以继承的智能合约中。

这就意味着, NFT项目在编写代码时,通过简单的引用a16z的许可证智能合约,就可以在代码意义上申明自己所适用的许可协议。

例如下图中的一段Solidity代码,在某个项目的NFT代码开始编写之前,直接引用了a16z的许可证合约,并且将NFT许可协议设置成了CBE_CC0,即放弃所有版权。

其他开发者、用户和商业组织事后在查看该项目NFT的合约时,可以找到该引用代码来证实项目确实使用了CC0协议,而非口头宣称。

我们在此不妨做一个类比。

熟悉开源代码的同学可能都不会对Apache协议感到陌生:一个由非盈利开源组织Apache采用的协议。鼓励代码共享和尊重原作者的著作权,同样允许代码修改。

一个项目代码如果使用了Apache协议,就意味着你可以对源代码进行修改;

同样,一个NFT项目代码如果使用了a16z的不能作恶协议,理论上也意味着你需要遵从该协议对NFT IP的使用条件。

这是一种代码层面的规则效力,颇有代码即法律的意味。当Apache协议成为了开源代码中的共识许可,所有人在使用代码时都会遵循Apache协议的规范。

而当大部分NFT项目认可a16z的NFT许可协议时,它也会具备规则效力。

项庄舞剑,意在沛公?

a16z在大多数人的印象中还是VC,以一个投资者的角色,通过投项目来盈利。

在加密圈项目投资越来越卷的情况下,能够投到的好项目越来越少,相应的,随着圈子的成熟和叙事瓶颈的到来,一级投资所能带来的边际收益恐怕在下降。

而在投资之余,对于顶级VC来说,它们也具备卓越的投研能力,这也就意味着它们比一般人更敏锐的知道行业中缺乏的是什么。

NFT IP许可协议目前仍处于空白地带,相关统一的授权标准亟待构建。a16z在构建标准的同时,是否也有谋求更多行业话语权的诉求?

当一家公司能够洞察市场短板,并且带头制定标准和规则时,会对其行业地位、潜在收益和连接势能带来极大的增益,这部分可以参考通信行业高通、爱立信和华为对于4G/5G标准的争夺。

项庄舞剑,意在沛公。从行业投资者到行业规则制定者,其中的锋芒不言而喻,而后续的动作可能也绝非建设一个NFT许可协议那么简单。

当VC也开始卷去Buidl,你更有理由期待这个行业的蓬勃发展。

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