After OpenSea, Now Magic Eden Scraps Optional Creator Royalty

Solana-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has walked away from its optional creator royalty model, following the footsteps of major NFT marketplace OpenSea.

In a recent blog post, Magic Eden announced the launch of a new protocol called the Open Creator Protocol, which it says can enforce creator royalties on Solana NFTs that use the tool.

The Open Creator Protocol is an open-source tool that creators of new Solana NFT projects can implement to ensure that royalties are paid whenever their assets are traded on secondary marketplaces.

For creators that don’t adopt OCP for their NFTs, royalties will remain optional on the platform.

“The Solana community has been waiting for solutions to NFT royalties,” Jack Lu, CEO and co-founder of Magic Eden, said in a press release. “Our intention with Open Creator Protocol is to immediately support royalties for creators launching new collections while continuing to coordinate with ecosystem partners for more solutions.”

As reported, OpenSea, which at one point considered creating royalties optional, had to back down from its decision following an intense creator, siding with creators in the matter of royalties. 

OpenSea even announced the rollout of a system that would let creators of new projects blacklist certain marketplaces that do not require traders to pay royalties. That system takes effect on November 8.

Subsequently, NFT marketplace X2Y2 revealed that it is also u-turning from its decision to make creator royalties optional. 

X2Y2 was one of the very first platforms to embrace the optional royalties model, a move that inspired other NFT platforms, including Magic Eden, Solana’s top NFT marketplace, to do so. 

Creator royalties are usually fees paid by the vendor for NFT transactions. It is usually set between 5% and 10% of the selling price and the funds go to a digital wallet controlled by the creators of the NFT project. These fees can be a lucrative source of income for NFT projects that generate significant secondary trading volume.

Lu added that Magic Eden itself will maintain a list of blocked marketplaces, but creators can choose to customize the list of blocked platforms. The open-source tool, which will be made available to creators on Friday, added that it could be supported by any Solana NFT marketplace that wants to honor copyrights on OCP projects.

Meanwhile, NFT marketplace Exchange.Art launched a new standard earlier this month called the “Copyright Protection Standard” that enforces royalties on secondary sales of NFTs originating from its platform.

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