There are many videos from the early days of YouTube that have become iconic over the years. Can they be considered a form of art, though? Well, with the rise of ‘NFT’s’ (non-fungible token), we have already seen a significant amount of content purchased off of the platform. And, it should be noted, for pretty substantial amounts. Well, if you had a lot of love for ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ as your best cure for the morning blues, then the future of it on the platform seems more than a little unclear as following a report via the BBC, it has just been sold for £500,000.
YouTube Video Sold for £500,000
Originally uploaded by the Davies-Carr family, the video went on to secure nearly 900 million views before it was put up for auction as an NFT. With the bidding now having successfully concluded, the new owner is “3fmusic” who successfully secured it for a figure believed to be in the region of £500,000. As such, although the original has been removed from the platform, we can likely expect the ‘stolen/reuploaded’ versions of it to disappear in the very near future.
What is an NFT?
As above, with it now being treated as a piece of art, the video now has a singular owner who can choose where and how to disseminate it from this point onwards. Likely, it should be added, at a commissioned charge. Whether such videos are art, however, will clearly remain something of a contenious subject.
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
