Blockchain

Crypto DAO Spent 2.66 Million Euros on Jodorowsky’s Dunes, Thinks They’ll Own Its Copyrights, Widely Riddled on Twitter

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Later Saturday, the Spice DAO, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization Possess a copy of an unpublished manuscript of Frank Herbert and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s never-finished film dune, announced its future roadmap. In a tweet, Spice DAO Say It will “publish the book, produce and sell an original animated limited series inspired by the book to streaming services, and support spin-off projects from the community.” The group has previously won Christie’s sold for 2.66 million euros (just over $3 million) at a November auction, about 89 times the midpoint estimate.

But there’s just one problem, buying a copy of a book doesn’t grant the buyer its copyright. In the US and EU, copyright usually lasts for the life of the last co-creator, and 70 years after their death. Currently, copyright owners Jean Giro and HR Giger are dead, while Jodorowsky is still in good shape at 92.

Both Twitter users and cryptocurrency enthusiasts seemed to respond to the article with derision. An unusually savage user named @TheNinjaWhippet replied with a link to a free and publicly accessible copy of the book, which has existed online since 2011. The post has over 3,500 likes.

Under copyright law, Spice DAO must seek the consent of the co-creators before making an animated series inspired by the book and selling it to streaming services, or 70 years after Jodorowsky’s death, which is when the work enters the public domain. In addition, because the auction requires an appraiser to assess the work to determine its value, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether the replica can be resold at face value. Spice DAO has about 1,236.12 Ethereum ($4 million) in the treasury at the time of publication.