Monetizing memes: Are these the new collectible art?

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• December 15, 2022

Insight summary

Memes, evolving from humorous online content to valuable digital assets, are now being sold as unique non-fungible tokens (NFTs), creating a new market for digital art and ownership. This transformation has led to significant financial gains for creators and has sparked a shift in how memes are perceived and utilized in digital culture. These developments are reshaping legal, educational, and marketing landscapes, influencing how memes are created, shared, and monetized.

Monetizing memes context

Memes have been around since the early 2000s, and in the early 2020s, creators began selling their memes as NFTs—a process that involves minting (verifying) media as cryptocurrency tokens. Memes are funny images, videos, or pieces of text that are copied (sometimes with slight variations) and re-shared multiple times by online users. When a meme spreads like a wildfire and becomes part of a cultural trend, it is considered “viral.”

Whereas meme NFTs are unique tokens that another token cannot replace. They act as a certificate of authenticity, validating that the meme creator is the content’s original author. Further, the appeal in purchasing minted (verified) NFTs has revived what some may label a “dead meme”—a once popular but now forgotten trending content. In the same way, someone might purchase an original piece of art rather than a reprint, people are drawn to buying memes as NFTs, according to Decrypt, a website that covers cryptocurrency news. The token acts as a sort of digital autograph from the meme creator. 

The origins of meme NFTs can be traced to 2018, when a collector named Peter Kell bought an NFT meme known as “Homer Pepe”—a piece of crypto art that looks like a fusion of the meme “Pepe the Frog” and Homer Simpson from the TV show “The Simpsons.” Kell purchased the “Rare Pepe,” as it was known, for approximately USD $39,000. In 2021, he resold it for roughly USD $320,000. 

Disruptive impact

There has been a “gold rush” among meme creators to sell their memes as NFTs. This trend is primarily due to the encouragement of Chris Torres—the creator of the pixel art “Nyan Cat,” who sold his creation for roughly USD $580,000 in 2021. All these memes are being sold on Foundation, one of the more popular marketplaces for these types of transactions.

So far, only established memes—those that have been around for a decade or more—have seen any success in this market. But it won’t be long before more recent memes begin to mint their creations as NFTs. One of the notable instances of a meme being sold as an NFT was Justin Morris’ “Attached Girlfriend” video for about USD $411,000 in April 2021. 

Given the potential windfall profits these memes can generate, creators are being forced to educate themselves on the legal risks involved in using someone else’s copyrighted content. In most cases, using copyrighted content to generate revenue without permission from the copyright owner can lead to a copyright infringement claim or to a right of publicity claim under applicable local laws. However, there are several ways creators are monetizing memes without being taken to court. The most common methods involve applying meme art on clothing and other merchandise, licensing the content to others for use in ads or other marketing materials, or donating any proceeds from meme-related activities to charity. 

Implications of monetizing memes

Wider implications of monetizing memes may include: 

• Meme creators hiring managers and lawyers to handle how their content is sold and distributed online. This trend may limit how people share memes online during the 2020s.
• Increased investments in NFT platforms for minted memes, leading to more content creators switching to meme production.
• The act of selling memes becoming more profitable than producing content on streaming platforms like Twitch or YouTube.
• Meme production becoming a profession. This trend can lead to more employment opportunities for videographers, graphic designers, and writers. 
• Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok collaborating with meme producers to generate viral content that attracts new users. 
• Legal disputes over meme ownership intensifying, resulting in stricter online copyright enforcement and impacting user-generated content freedom.
• Educational institutions incorporating meme studies into digital media and communication courses, reflecting their cultural and economic significance.
• Traditional advertising agencies increasingly hiring meme experts to connect with younger demographics, altering marketing strategies and campaigns.

Questions to consider

• If you’re a meme creator, how do you monetize your content? 
• What are your thoughts on the act of monetizing memes? Or does monetizing memes defeat their ‘viral’ sensationalism?
• How else might this trend change the way people produce original content online?