The answer to royalties
Is only a letter away. In this thought I would suggest the better way to address and resolve the current hotly debated issue of royalty fees for creators (and specifically crypto NFT) and it’s as simple as changing the perspective.
First - listen to this podcast, it provides context…feel free to use 2x speed.
Once you’ve done that, I hope you’ll have a strong context for my conclusion: rather than focusing on the enforcement of future fees on future sales (the current debate) where we attempt to “police” things; instead we flip our point of view. I would propose the solution is Loyalty Patronages. Rather than considering it a fee, it’s an opportunity for the buyer to express and support their favorite creator.
In this view the buyer demonstrates their support for the creator by acknowledging and agreeing with the loyalty fee.
Now what is this loyalty fee? Well at the highest level it is a contract based time-driven fee distribution from the wallet containing the purchased NFT.
The specifics of each loyalty fee is configurable by the creator. This can be as basic as 0 loyalty fee, or a flat monthly amount drawn down continually, or perhaps a percent drawn down continually. Everything is placed within the smart contract and immutable to protect and provide trust against future tampering. The amount can be negligible or meaningful. Indirect autonomous regulation comes as a direct result from reversing the transaction focus and reshapes the relationship dynamic.
The question then arises what happens if the wallet does not have the necessary funds to pay the loyalty fee?
There are significant nuances here to be determined and resolved. Perhaps the contract after a certain grace period defined by the creator “automatically lists up for auction”; at a price point set by the original creator. In the absence of the original creator a market oracle will determine fair market value.
Now of course this doesn’t solve all edge cases, but I do believe it does a great job covering everything from 1:1’s to PFP collections. And supports creators in a positive reinforcement cycle as opposed to the negative ‘enforcement’ of a royalty tax.