NFT Licensing Explained: CC0 vs All Rights Reserved

Why Licensing Matters for NFT Creators

When you mint an NFT, you are not automatically handing over the copyright to your artwork. Minting creates a token on the blockchain that points to your file and proves who owns that specific token. What the buyer is actually allowed to do with the underlying artwork, print it, sell merchandise with it, or build a business around it, depends entirely on the license you attach to the project. Many first time creators skip this step, and it can lead to confusion or disputes later. Two terms come up constantly in this conversation: CC0 and all rights reserved. Understanding what they mean will help you decide what to offer the people who mint your work.

What “All Rights Reserved” Means

All rights reserved is the default legal position for any creative work, including NFTs, unless you say otherwise. As the creator, you automatically hold the copyright the moment you make the artwork. If you mint an NFT without publishing any separate license, buyers generally get ownership of the token itself but not the right to reproduce, modify, or commercially exploit the image.

Many NFT projects use a modified version of this default: the buyer owns the token and gets a limited, personal use license to display the art, sometimes with a commercial use allowance up to a certain revenue threshold. This is common with generative art collections and profile picture projects, where the creator wants buyers to feel ownership without losing control of the brand.

All rights reserved works well when:

• The artwork is meant to be collected and displayed, not remixed or resold as merchandise.
• You plan to license the art separately for commercial deals and want to retain that leverage.
• You are protecting a distinct visual identity or character that could be diluted if anyone could reuse it freely.

What CC0 Means

CC0, short for Creative Commons Zero, is close to the opposite approach. When a creator releases work under CC0, they waive their copyright and related rights entirely, to the extent the law allows. In practice, this means nobody, including the original creator, retains exclusive control over the artwork. Anyone can copy, modify, or use it for any purpose, commercial or personal, without asking permission or paying royalties.

CC0 became popular in NFT communities because it fits the open, permissionless culture many projects wanted to build. Well known CC0 collections include Nouns, Loot, and Goblintown. These projects treat the artwork as a shared public resource: anyone can build games, merchandise, or spinoff projects using the same assets, which can grow the ecosystem around a collection faster than a single team could alone.

The tradeoff is real. Once you release something as CC0, you cannot take it back or restrict who benefits from it later, including people who never bought your NFT in the first place. If your business model depends on being the only entity that can sell merchandise or license the art commercially, CC0 removes that option permanently.

A Middle Ground: Standardized NFT Licenses

Because plain legal language like “all rights reserved” or “CC0” leaves a lot of ambiguity for non lawyers, the venture firm a16z crypto published a set of standardized options known as the “Can’t Be Evil” licenses. They offer six variations covering personal use only, non exclusive commercial rights, and exclusive commercial rights, with some versions including a clause that revokes the license if the holder engages in hate speech. These licenses were designed specifically for NFTs and are free to use, which makes them a practical reference point if you want something more defined than a vague statement but do not want to give up all control the way CC0 does.

How to Choose for Your Own Project

There is no universally correct answer, only tradeoffs that match different goals. A few questions can help narrow it down:

• Do you want buyers to build businesses around your art? If yes, a commercial use license or CC0 supports that. If no, stick with a personal use or all rights reserved approach.
• Is the artwork part of a larger brand you control? Franchises and recognizable characters usually stay under all rights reserved so the creator can manage how the brand is used.
• Are you trying to grow a community that builds on top of your work? CC0 removes friction for collaborators, at the cost of giving up exclusivity.
• Do you need clear, written terms rather than assumptions? Pick a defined license, whether that is CC0, a Can’t Be Evil license, or your own written terms, and publish it somewhere buyers can find it, such as your collection description or project website.

Whatever you choose, write it down. Ambiguity is what causes disputes, not the specific license itself. A short, clear statement in your collection’s description, for example “buyers receive a personal use license to display this artwork” or “this collection is released under CC0,” prevents misunderstandings and sets expectations before anyone mints.

Getting Started

If you are minting your own collection, decide on a license before your first sale rather than after. It is far easier to set clear terms from the start than to change them once buyers already hold tokens. Tools like Simple NFT Creator make the minting process itself simple, but the licensing decision is one only you, as the creator, can make.

Ready to mint your own collection? Simple NFT Creator is available on the App Store and Google Play.