# Moonbirds Makes Its NFT Art CC0, Setting Off a Debate Over Ownership

> PROOF co-founder Kevin Rose announced on August 4, 2022, that the art behind the Moonbirds and Oddities NFT collections would be placed under a CC0 public domain waiver. Supporters saw a way to spread the brand; some holders said rights they'd paid for were taken away without warning. The episode became a lasting case study in the gap between owning a token and owning the art.

Source: https://cryptomorrow.com/2022/08/04/moonbirds-makes-its-nft-art-cc0-setting-off-a-debate-over-ownership/
Last checked: 2026-11-02

Moonbirds, one of 2022's most recognizable profile-picture NFT collections, made a surprising intellectual property announcement on August 4, 2022. In a thread on X, [Kevin Rose](https://x.com/kevinrose), co-founder of the project's parent company [PROOF](https://www.proof.xyz), said the artwork behind [Moonbirds](https://www.proof.xyz/moonbirds) and its companion collection, Oddities, would move to Creative Commons Zero, better known as CC0.

*Historical news event: 2022-08-04. Retrospective report prepared November 2026.*

## What CC0 means in practice

[CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) is a tool for giving up copyright and related rights as far as the law allows. In practice, anyone can generally reproduce, adapt or commercially use the art without buying the NFT first. For a collection whose holders had been discussing commercial uses of their own owl images, that was far from a technical footnote.

A CC0 waiver covers copyright. It doesn't automatically cover trademarks, so names and logos can still be protected separately. That distinction would matter for anyone trying to build a business on the art.

## From exclusive identity to shared cultural asset

Moonbirds launched on April 16, 2022, as 10,000 pixel-art owls minted on [Ethereum](/2017/08/21/ethereum-eth/) at 2.5 ETH each, and the collection traded hundreds of millions of dollars in its first days. Its appeal depended partly on visual identity: collectors displayed an owl avatar and joined a community tied to owning one of a limited set of tokens.

The CC0 move tested a question at the heart of Web3 culture: could a recognizable brand become more valuable by letting anyone remix it? Rose framed the change as aligning rights with what's on the blockchain. "In this new future, true ownership is dictated by what is recorded on-chain, the way it should be," he wrote in the thread, as quoted by [The Block](https://www.theblock.co/news/web3/2022-08-08-moonbirds-ruffles-some-holders-feathers-with-abrupt-copyright-switch-161819).

![Kevin Rose speaking on stage at Web Summit 2013, wearing a headset microphone in front of a lit wall of water tanks](/static/up/2022/08/cm-004-kevin-rose-web-summit.webp)

*Photo: Heisenberg Media / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0*

Supporters argued that making the art free to reproduce would encourage fan art, merchandise and adaptations, spreading awareness of the owls well beyond their holders. [Nouns](https://nouns.wtf), a project that had released its pixel characters under CC0 from the start, was already testing similar ideas.

## Why some holders objected

Not every holder was convinced. Some said they'd bought their owls believing the art came with distinctive commercial rights, and objected to a change made months after the sale without warning, The Block reported. One holder, Lakoz.eth, said they'd lost a six-figure licensing deal shortly after the announcement. "I understand the decision, but the approach by the team could've been much better," they told The Block.

Others focused on process. "Would have been nice to implement a voting mechanism for holders," a collector posting as Cathsimard wrote on Twitter, according to The Block. The market reacted too: the collection's floor price fell by 3 ETH after the news, The Block reported, citing CoinGecko data.

## Token ownership versus copyright

The dispute illustrates the difference between owning a token and owning copyright. An NFT proves control of a particular token on a blockchain. It doesn't, by itself, grant exclusive rights to the image linked to it. Those rights depend on the law and on whatever license the project puts in place.

That's why the episode drew so much legal attention. Research such as [Galaxy's survey of NFT licenses](https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/a-survey-of-nft-licenses-facts-and-fictions) looked at how projects grant, or quietly keep, rights over their art. The Moonbirds controversy was less about whether open art is good or bad than about whether buyers understood the bargain when they bought, and whether a project should be able to change the terms afterwards on its own.

## What happened to Moonbirds next

The licensing switch was only the first of several big changes. In February 2024, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs [acquired PROOF and the Moonbirds IP](/2024/02/16/yuga-labs-acquires-moonbirds-creator-proof-in-major-nft-ip-deal/). Yuga then sold the Moonbirds, Mythics and Oddities collections to Orange Cap Games, a studio led by Spencer Gordon-Sand, in late May 2025, without disclosing terms, according to [Decrypt](https://decrypt.co/323189/bored-ape-maker-sells-moonbirds-gaming-startup). In October 2025, Orange Cap Games announced BIRB, an ecosystem token on Solana, which later [launched as the owls began a new chapter](/2026/01/28/moonbirds-launches-birb-on-solana-as-its-nft-owls-begin-a-new-chapter/).

Through all of that, the CC0 status of the original art stayed part of the story. Moonbirds' switch showed that NFT coverage can't stop at floor prices and trading volumes. A single licensing decision can affect artists, collectors, merchandise businesses and anyone trying to build a story around a character. In a visual economy, the legal status of the art is part of the product, a lesson other collections learned during their own [collector revolts](/2022/04/03/luca-netz-buys-pudgy-penguins-for-2-5-million-after-a-collector-revolt/).

## Frequently asked questions

### When did Moonbirds go CC0?

Kevin Rose announced on August 4, 2022, in a thread on X, that the art for Moonbirds and its companion collection Oddities would move to a CC0 public domain waiver.

### What does CC0 mean for NFT art?

CC0 waives copyright and related rights as far as the law allows, so anyone can generally copy, adapt or sell the art without owning the NFT. It doesn't automatically cover trademarks such as names and logos.

### Why were some Moonbirds holders upset?

Some holders said they'd bought the NFTs expecting exclusive commercial rights to their owls, and that the change came without notice or a holder vote. One holder told The Block they lost a six-figure licensing deal after the announcement.

### Who owns Moonbirds now?

Yuga Labs bought PROOF and the Moonbirds IP in February 2024, then sold Moonbirds, Mythics and Oddities to Orange Cap Games in late May 2025.

### Does owning an NFT give you copyright to the image?

Not by default. An NFT records ownership of a token; any rights to the linked image depend on the license the project grants and the law that applies.

## Sources

- [Kevin Rose on X: Moonbirds CC0 announcement thread (August 4, 2022)](https://x.com/kevinrose/status/1555262099093200896)
- [The Block: Moonbirds ruffles some holders' feathers with abrupt copyright switch (August 8, 2022)](https://www.theblock.co/news/web3/2022-08-08-moonbirds-ruffles-some-holders-feathers-with-abrupt-copyright-switch-161819)
- [Creative Commons: CC0 1.0 Universal](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Galaxy Research: A survey of NFT licenses, facts and fictions](https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/a-survey-of-nft-licenses-facts-and-fictions)
- [Decrypt: Bored Ape maker sells Moonbirds to gaming startup (2025)](https://decrypt.co/323189/bored-ape-maker-sells-moonbirds-gaming-startup)
- [Cointelegraph: Moonbirds fly into NFT top spot with $290M sold in four days (April 2022)](https://cointelegraph.com/news/moonbirds-fly-into-nft-top-spot-with-290m-sold-in-four-days)

*Featured image: [PROOF](https://www.proof.xyz/moonbirds)*