Several YouTubers and gaming industry professionals have reportedly seen their likeness turned into NFTs and sold without their consent. As reported by TheGamer and Eurogamer, a user has made several NFTs specifically of YouTubers and other influencers and posted them on OpenSea.
YouTubers Caddicarus and James Stephanie Sterling expressed their discontent on Twitter. Both content creators saw their YouTube channel icons directly taken and converted into NFTs. While most NFTs come with a unique link to the image that provides the buyer with some level of ownership, these NFTs give only the link to each creator’s YouTube channels.
“At least, AT LEAST, if you stole my shit and tried selling it off, make it a t shirt. A mug. A clock. A thing. That you can use. And enjoy,” Caddicarus said. “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 lol.”
“Frankly not surprised that some freeloading leech turned my channel into an NFT,” Sterling said. “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.”
Sony Santa Monica writer and fellow content creator Alanah Pearce had her image taken and put onto a porn magazine cover. “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,” Pearce said. “Naturally, I was not asked for permission. I cannot wait for the lawsuits.”
The NFT using Pearce’s likeness was taken down, according to Eurogamer. But those of Caddicarus and Sterling remain available for purchase.
