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The case involving \u201cQuantum\u201d is an example of how blockchain technology protects the rights of digital artists.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Canadian company Free Holdings will not get the chance to go to court over the first-known NFT on record.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s because Judge James Cott, a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court, has dismissed the case. Indeed, the case was brought against the creator of \u201cQuantum\u201d, Kevin McCoy,<\/a> and the auction house Sotheby\u2019s, which sold the NFT for $1.47 million in June 2021.<\/p>\n In essence, Free Holdings believes that McCoy surrendered the ownership rights of the NFT by not following the correct procedure on the original blockchain Namecoin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, Free Holdings takes issue with McCoy and Sotheby\u2019s description of the NFT, which was used to sell the digital artwork.<\/p>\n However, Judge Cott wasn\u2019t moved by the case presented by Free Holdings.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cFree Holdings has demonstrated nothing more than an attempt to exploit open questions of ownership in the still-developing NFT field to lay claim to the profits of a legitimate artist.<\/p>\n Free Holdings is the company which controls\u00a0the blockchain Namecoin. Back in 2014, Kevin McCoy minted the first known NFT, \u201cQuantum\u201d, on Namecoin. Subsequently, McCoy failed to renew his ownership of the NFT within 250 days. Crucially, Namecoin rules state that if you don\u2019t renew your ownership of the NFT, the NFT is no longer your property.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following this, the NFT \u201cQuantum\u201d was minted on the Ethereum blockchain<\/a> by McCoy, and sold by Sotheby\u2019s<\/a> auction house for $1.47 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet, Free Holdings takes issue with the description of the NFT by Sotheby\u2019s, which uses phrases such as \u201cgenesis blocks\u201d, \u201cseismic forks\u201d and \u201cnew movements\u201d to sell the NFT.<\/p>\n The Sotheby\u2019s description ends with: \u201cThese prime movers occupy a singular position in art history. They came first. Kevin McCoy\u2019s\u00a0Quantum\u00a0<\/em>is such a work. Minted on 2nd May 2014 21:27:34, or more precisely Namecoin Block 174923, the NFT era quietly dawned. What a noise it makes today.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Free Holding claims that the words in the description harm the company\u2019s ability to profit from the NFT on Namecoin. \u00a0<\/p>\nA messy case<\/strong><\/h2>\n