18/01/2022 Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and sold as NFTs

Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and turned into NFTs.

The NFTs cropped up on auction site OpenSea, including an image of the content creator and a unique URL for the cards that's merely the YouTube channel address.

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The user StakeTheWeb appears to be making NFTs of influencers across social media, including gaming YouTubers James Stephanie Sterling and Caddicarus who tweeted their disapproval.

"Shilling off a profile picture for a collection you can just make yourself on a Facebook photo album is honestly a new level of pathetic," said Caddicarus.

"Frankly not surprised that some freeloading leech turned my channel into an NFT," said Sterling.

"As gross as it is, I find it justifying - I did not consent to this, I do not want this, and it demonstrates everything I've said about how disrespectful and exploitative this market is. Scum."

Not only is this practice theft, creator and writer at Sony Santa Monica Alanah Pearce has had her image used in pornography by a different user on the platform.

"In extremely predictable news I've just been informed that somebody has taken an image of me, that *I* own, added a trademarked porn logo to it, and 'minted' it to sell for profit as an NFT. Naturally, I was not asked for permission," said Pearce on Twitter.

"I cannot wait for the lawsuits".

An OpenSea spokesperson responded toTheGamerwith a statement.

"OpenSea supports an open and creative ecosystem in which people have greater freedom and ownership over digital items of all kinds. One of our operating principles is to support creators and their audiences by deterring theft and plagiarism on our platform.

"To that end, it is against our policy to sell NFTs using plagiarised content, which we regularly enforce in various ways, including delisting and in some instances, banning accounts (as was the case in this instance). We are actively expanding our efforts across customer support, trust and safety, and site integrity so we can move faster to protect and empower our community and creators."

While the Alanah Pearce NFTs appear to have been taken down, the James Stephanie Sterling and Caddicarus NFTs (as well as others) remain available at the time of writing.

Arts

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-17-gaming-youtubers-have-had-their-likenesses-stolen-and-sold-as-nfts

Interesting NFTs
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Brave Samurai
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Plant Based Safari
Imagine a safari where instead of finding animals you find natural phenomena. The second piece from our Botanical series. A series inspired by places and experiences close to our hearts. A fictional take on the magic of nature and it's restorative powers these works are part memory and part fantasy, and embody our vision for the future of digital nature. Visual Citizens are a pair of former architects turned digital florists. Applying their love of nature within the digital world they bridge the gap between the natural and the artificial.
Hawk and Cherry
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Hawk and Cherry 1833-1834 - Japan