These days, I’ve seen debates again about whether secondary royalties should be mandatory or not. To be honest, everyone wants creators to have a livelihood, but they’re also afraid of becoming the ones who pay. In the past, buying NFTs was like voting for someone and collecting at the same time; now it’s more like adding liquidity in an AMM: your every move causes slippage, and in the end, you realize all the rhyme is on “transaction fees.”

If royalties aren’t collected, creators’ long-term motivation disappears; if they are enforced, the market will take detours, and traffic will flow to “zero royalty” places. Attention shifts as quickly as memes—yesterday it was art, today it’s the backdrop for celebrity shoutouts. Newcomers really shouldn’t always think about taking the last baton.
My mom also asked me, “Can you still pay the author when you buy pictures?” I can only say, in theory… but everyone just pretends not to see when they’re trying to save a buck. Anyway, I now focus more on whether creators can continue producing and if there are people in their communities. As for royalties, it might have to be slowly worked out between ideals and transactions.