Wizards Of The Coast Shuts Down Unauthorized NFT Magic “Format”
Wizards of the Coast sent a cease and desist letter to an unauthorized Magic: the Gathering “NFT-based format” over the weekend.
Hate them or hate them, NFTs are the grift that keeps on giving. This past weekend WotC notified mtgDAO, a “scarce magic format” that would bring the wonder of NFTs to the world of Magic, that their use of Wizards’ IP was in fact unauthorized. You could be forgiven for thinking this should’ve been taken for granted. But truly nowhere and nothing is safe.
mtgDAO made their announcement about planned Magic NFTs on Twitter.
WotC Letter About Magic NFTs
The Cease and Desist letter is politely worded, as they say. In a nutshell, despite their enthusiasm, the “mtgDAO” format would infringe upon WotC’s trademark:
Unfortunately, your untended use of Wizards’ intellectual property […] would be unlawful.
The letter continues to outline WotC legal’s position:
It is the exclusive right of the copyright owner to reproduce the copyrighted work, such as a MAGIC card, in any format.
Of course, there is an exception in the case of making a backup/archival copy of a card. But as WotC points out, “this privilege extends only to computer programs and not to other types of works.” It doesn’t cover, say, minting Magic NFTs, no matter how common the card is.
Of course this is just the first salvo, and it’s anyone’s guess how this could develop. But even this was enough to send a wave of worry through the community given the conclusion of WotC’s letter.
There are no plans of yet, but gaming and NFTs are dancing a vicious dance right now. Ubisoft’s employees have spoken out repeatedly while senior executives forge ahead. Meanwhile, platforms like itch.io and DriveThruRPG are declaring themselves firmly against NFTs. The technology, often characterized as a solution in search of a problem, continues to be problematic.
Chaosium dabbled in NFTs last year and met with community disapproval–but continues to forge ahead, with a new batch planned. WotC seems to be circling the idea. Are NFTs inevitable for gaming, despite the community outcry? And what will the consequences of the inevitable crash be for an industry that’s volatile at best?
When WotC switched from 3rd Edition to 3.5, smaller publishing companies died out. What will happen when the other shoe (or the token pointing to an address associated with a jpeg of a shoe) drops?
What do you think? Do gaming and NFTs mix?
