Mint, License and Sell
Mint an artwork on TEIA, record its license terms on TEIA's copyright registry and list it for sale, in a single guided process. This is the interface for TEIA's minting contract and copyright registry - built, operated and maintained by the DAO community on an open-source platform. Works minted here also show up across the web - on teia.art, on teia.cafe's decentralized radio, in galleries and in curation systems - in one unified system, so you can track them at any time, whatever happens to the platforms themselves. (Including ours!)
- Minting Contract: KT1Hkg5qeNhfwpKW4fXvq7HGZB9z2EnmCCA9
- License Registration: KT1XAiMoaddkmLUhMYMrc3ghm9uBdLgVbiFK
- Marketplace Contract: KT1PHubm9HtyQEJ4BBpMTVomq6mhbfNZ9z5w
- Full list: Shared, community-owned contracts
To get started, you will need a Tezos wallet with a few tez in it, to cover the network fees. Set up a new wallet here. For an example of a finished work, see Connecting AI to Attribution, minted on TEIA with its license recorded on the copyright registry.
1. The work
Video, audio, 3D models and PDFs have no visual representation of their own; an image is its own cover. The cover image is displayed in feeds, galleries and previews, and a thumbnail is generated from it.
Tags help collectors find the work on teia.art. Separate them with commas. As on teia.art, spaces within a tag are removed (“digital art” is stored as “digitalart”). Suggestions are drawn from the most frequent meaningful words in the title and description.
2. License type
Choose a license type
Pick the situation closest to yours, or Custom to set everything yourself. A preset sets everything up to the sale, so you can skip straight there.
3. Editions and royalties✓
From 1 to 10,000.
Each edition is a separate token, and any Owner of an edition holds the rights granted in the registration. A smaller edition makes each edition, and the license it carries, scarcer. Exclusive rights, where granted, are also calculated by reference to the number of editions.
10–25%, the range TEIA permits. Payable to you on each resale.
Marketplaces that honor on-chain royalties, including TEIA, pay you this percentage of each secondary sale. Where rights transfer with the token, royalties are the mechanism by which a license continues to generate income after the primary sale.
4. License
Copyright arises automatically when a work is created. Registering license terms on TEIA's copyright registry adds the following:
- A public, verifiable record. The terms are recorded on the Tezos blockchain as a dated declaration signed by your wallet, which anyone can inspect.
- Defined rights for collectors. The registration states which uses Owners may make of the work, including commercial uses, rather than leaving them to assumption. The purchase of a token does not in itself transfer copyright.
- A license as well as an artwork. Each edition can carry defined rights that are reflected in its price. The rights may transfer with resales while royalties continue to accrue to you.
- Evidence of your intent. A timestamped statement of the terms you set, and when, can support your position in a dispute, together with your working files.
For examples of what registered agreements typically look like, browse the copyright marketplace.
Standard license templates
Each template is modeled on an established license and adapted to TEIA, which grants rights to the Owners of an edition rather than to the public. Selecting a template sets the provisions below, which may then be adjusted individually.
Sources: 17 U.S.C. §202: ownership of copyright vs. of the object · Creative Commons: CC and NFTs · Can't Be Evil license texts (GitHub) · Creative Commons: about the licenses · 17 U.S.C. §109: display by the owner of a copy · NFT License 2.0 (Dapper Labs) · Copyright Alliance: music licenses · a16z crypto: the Can't Be Evil NFT licenses · CC0 1.0 deed
Rights granted to Owners of an edition
Covers physical and digital copies for commercial and non-commercial purposes. TEIA's clause has no non-commercial variant; any such limitation must be stated in the addendum. In music, sales of recordings rely on reproduction rights, whereas playback relies on broadcast rights.
For code-based works also published in a public repository, ensure that the repository's license is consistent with these terms; conflicting licenses are difficult to reconcile later.
Includes commercial broadcasting. Blockchains do not currently record plays or views, so the right is granted as a flat permission rather than on a metered basis. Where pricing is uncertain, a conservative initial price allows secondary-market demand to establish value while royalties continue to apply.
Under TEIA's wording, public display is granted without a right to charge for it and requires attribution to the Creator. Display and reproduction may overlap (a website displays a copy); where the distinction matters, define it in the addendum, for example by permitting museum display while excluding advertising.
Examples include adapting a novel into a screenplay, a painting into a sculpture or a recording into a remix. Such rights are typically arranged between creators. Specify in the addendum which modifications are permitted and whether resulting works may be sold.
Attribution is often given as a courtesy; including this provision makes it a binding condition. Certain uses, such as logos, may be better served without attribution, which is why it is optional. Attribution no longer applies once a work has been released to the public domain.
If selected, the rights follow the token through every secondary sale, which increases the value of an edition to a collector acquiring it for licensing purposes. If not selected, the rights are granted only to the first purchaser from you and terminate on resale, preserving closer control over how the work is used.
Any person may use, modify and sell the work without permission or payment, and in practice the release cannot be withdrawn. A dated declaration signed by your wallet is clearer evidence of the release than an announcement on a social platform. Selecting this option disables all other provisions.
Exclusive rights
The number of editions can serve as a mechanism for granting exclusivity: the Owner who reaches the threshold holds the rights to the exclusion of others. A collector may acquire editions from other Owners to reach it, and exclusivity takes effect as soon as the threshold is met.
To preserve the option without deciding now, select majority share and release no more than 49% of the editions.
No exclusivity. With 100 editions, a majority would be 51 and a super-majority 67.
Without this provision, an exclusive Owner's rights would extend to excluding you from your own work. Leave it selected unless a transfer of control is intended, as in a commission or buyout.
License term
Agreements with labels, publishers and companies are customarily concluded for a fixed term. The term sets a single expiry date for every edition; when it is reached, all rights granted revert to you and you may grant new terms. A three-year term is selected by default, and the longest is 25 years. There is no perpetual term: a grant without an end date can’t be repriced or revisited, and is hard to withdraw if a use proves unwelcome. Only a public-domain release lasts for good.
The length of time owners of your NFT are allowed to use your work(s) under the terms of the agreement.
Rights granted expire on 2029-10-28 and revert to you.
The addendum prevails over the generated agreement wherever the two conflict. Use it for scope the provisions above cannot express: territories, a number of copies, a revenue limit, restrictions on modification or the form of attribution. Avoid contradicting the provisions above, which invites misinterpretation.
Tezos contracts store text as plain ASCII: straight quotation marks, without accents or emoji. The token itself retains every character.
Content at an https:// address may change after registration; content at an ipfs:// address cannot, which makes IPFS preferable for legal text. The address may also refer to an earlier work of yours in order to apply these terms to it, provided you can demonstrate control of both wallets.
Appears beside your wallet address in the opening paragraph of the agreement. Your public TzKT alias is suggested where one exists. Leave empty to identify the Creator by wallet address alone.
Summary of terms
Owners may not, without your permission:
- reproduce and sell copies (prints, merchandise, publications, digital assets)
- broadcast or stream the work (television, radio, streaming services, podcasts)
- display the work publicly (exhibitions, screens, websites)
- create derivative works (adaptations, remixes, edits)
- Owners hold the token for private enjoyment; all rights are reserved to you.
- Your addendum forms part of the agreement and prevails over the generated text.
Unless limited by the term or the addendum, the rights apply worldwide and without restriction on frequency of use. The price of an edition should therefore reflect the value of the rights for the whole term.
5. Sale
Three ways to sell, and you can use more than one. Once the work is minted, editions can be listed on TEIA's marketplace, where they appear on teia.art like any other listing and are held by the marketplace contract until they are collected, or until you cancel the listing on teia.art. Or sell to a client directly: the token, sent to their wallet once they have paid you, or the license alone, with an agreement you both sign.
How much should I charge? There is no fixed answer: it depends on your audience, demand and reputation. The guide shows what creators in each situation typically charge in galleries, to clients and on marketplaces worldwide, from public surveys and rate cards.
Advanced: edition shares, exclusive rights, and thresholds
This is an advanced feature where each work is treated as if they were shares in a company - where the number of editions represents ownership share - this is useful in cases where the creator may want to sign an exclusive deal with a single owner or entity in a long-term partnership agreement.
In most cases this should be left alone unless there is an interest by multiple parties to make this happen with specific agreements and numbers. For most, giving equal rights to all owners is still the best option.
No license terms will be registered: buyers acquire the token, and you retain all rights in the work. Terms registered later apply to every edition, including those already sold.
View the full agreement · select “License” in section 4
Only the opening paragraph and the setting of each provision are stored on chain. This text is generated from them wherever the registration is displayed, including on teia.art.
This License Agreement ("Agreement") is granted by the creator ("Creator") identified by the wallet address [tz1… (your wallet)] ("Wallet Address") for the following Work(s):
#1: "Untitled" (Token ID: (assigned at mint), Contract: KT1RJ6PbjHpwc3M5rw5s2Nbmefwbuwbdxton)
Under the Minting Contract managed by the TEIA DAO LLC [KT1RJ6PbjHpwc3M5rw5s2Nbmefwbuwbdxton].
This Agreement outlines the rights and obligations associated with the ownership and use of the NFT(s)' likeness(es) and any derivatives thereof ("Work").
“Editions” refers to the total number of authorized copies of the NFT(s) that the Creator issues at the time of minting. Each copy represents an "Edition" of the NFT, allowing multiple Owners (or one Owner holding multiple copies) to hold rights to the Work under the terms of this Agreement.
In all cases, the written text in this document will take precedence over any data or metadata displays on or off-chain as the authoritative permissions for the Work, applied to both the Creator(s) and Owner(s). Statements in the Addendums have the ability to overrule or nullify statements in the auto-generated portions of this document in cases of conflicts or inconsistencies.
In cases where multiple Creators or Collaborators have contributed to the creation of the Work, the rights and obligations stipulated herein apply equally to all Creators. Each Creator is entitled to the rights granted under this Agreement, and such rights are shared collectively among all Creators unless specified otherwise.
1. All Rights Reserved:
No rights are granted under this Agreement. All rights for the Work are reserved solely by the Creator.
2. Exclusive Rights:
No exclusive rights are granted under this Agreement. All rights are non-exclusive and shared among all rightful owners or licensees - or in cases of "All Rights Reserved", exclusivity is granted solely to the Creator themselves.
3. Expiration Date:
This Agreement is effective until the date of 2029-10-28 (relative to the time of mint of the Work), after which the rights granted herein will terminate unless expressly renewed or extended in writing by the Creator. Upon expiration, all rights (including exclusive rights) returns back to the Creator's ownership and control.
4. Jurisdiction and Legal Authority:
This Agreement is subject to and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Creator and Owner(s) are domiciled. The rights granted hereunder are subject to any applicable international, national, and local copyright and distribution laws.
5. Identification and Representation:
Each Owner (including the Creator and all Collaborators) affirms that the wallet address provided is under their control or under the control of the party they legitimately represent. Each Owner accepts all responsibility for validating their ownership or representative authority of the said wallet address. It is the Owner's duty to provide satisfactory proof of ownership or authorization as may be required to establish their connection to the wallet address in question. Failure to conclusively demonstrate such ownership or authority may result in denial of access to services, rights, or privileges associated with the wallet address under this Agreement.
6. Amendments and Modifications:
This Agreement may be amended or modified only by a written document signed by both the Creator and the Owner(s) holding the relevant majority or super-majority share, as applicable.
7. Proof of Ownership and Responsibility:
Each individual claiming ownership ("Claimant") must conclusively prove that they are the legitimate Owner or Creator of the specified wallet address associated with this Agreement. It is the sole responsibility of the Claimant to provide irrefutable evidence supporting their claim. This proof may include, but is not limited to, cryptographic signatures, transaction histories, and other blockchain-based verifications that establish an undeniable link between the Claimant and the wallet address in question. For any references (both "verified" and external) linked through the registered work, the Registrar bears full responsibility for: (a) maintaining valid proof of ownership or proper authorization for such references; (b) ensuring the continued accessibility and accuracy of such references; and (c) providing verification of such ownership upon request. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence for either wallet ownership or external reference authorization will result in the denial of any rights, privileges, or access purportedly associated with the work under the terms of this Agreement.
8. Limitation of Platform Responsibility:
This Agreement is entered into solely between the Creator and the Owner(s) of the Non-Fungible Token ("NFT") and the associated digital or physical artwork ("Work"). TEIA (teia.art), formally operating under TEIA DAO LLC, and its affiliated members, collectively referred to as "Platform," do not bear any responsibility for the enforcement, execution, or maintenance of this Agreement. The Platform serves only as a venue for the creation, display, and trading of NFTs and does not participate in any legal relationships established under this Agreement between the Creator and the Owner(s). All responsibilities related to the enforcement and adherence to the terms of this Agreement rest solely with the Creator and the Owner(s). The Platform disclaims all liability for any actions or omissions of any user related to the provisions of this Agreement.
9. Perpetuity of Agreement:
Unless stated otherwise (in this Agreement itself), this Agreement remains effective in perpetuity as long as the Owner(s) can conclusively demonstrate proof of ownership of the NFT representing the Work, beyond reasonable doubt. Proof of ownership must be substantiated through reliable and verifiable means, which may include, but are not limited to, transaction records, cryptographic proofs, or any other blockchain-based evidence that unequivocally establishes ownership. This perpetual license ensures that the rights and privileges granted under this Agreement persist as long as the ownership criteria are met and validated. Expiry dates mentioned in the Agreement above will override the perpetuity of this clause on the date specified.
10. Agreement Modifications:
Any modification to this Agreement's terms requires explicit consent from both the Creator(s) and current Owner(s). Such amendments shall only apply to consenting parties and shall not alter existing agreements with non-consenting Owners. The Agreement shall maintain its original terms for any Owner-Creator relationship where mutual consent to amendments is not obtained, resulting in potentially differing agreement versions existing concurrently between different Owners of the same work. Smart contract execution shall serve as conclusive evidence of acceptance of amended terms.
Addendum By Creator:
tz1… (your wallet)
Third-party platforms: where the Creator or an Owner uploads, displays or otherwise makes the Work available through a third-party website, application or service and accepts its terms of service, end-user license agreement or similar terms, any license those terms grant to the operator of that service, including a license to host, reproduce or publicly display the Work, governs as between that party and that operator and prevails over this Agreement to the extent of any conflict. Such terms do not amend, limit or extend the rights and obligations of the Creator and the Owners under this Agreement as between themselves.6. Review and confirm
mint_OBJKT on TEIA's minting contract. No fee is payable to TEIA; storage and network fees apply.
- Select the file to mint.
- Enter a title.
- Choose a license type, or Custom.
Not selected. Activate section 4 to register license terms.
Not selected. Activate section 5 to list editions for sale.
A mark hidden in the file, not visible to the eye, that survives resizing and re-compression. Copies found elsewhere can be traced back to this work and its registration, and the mark carries a machine-readable notice that the work is not offered for AI training.
Files on IPFS stay reachable only while at least one computer on the network keeps a copy (“pins” them). This keeps a copy of the work and its metadata on teia.cafe’s own IPFS node for a year, alongside any other copies.
Preview: credits are not charged yet. Once they are, the whole order is held when you press the button, and each item is spent only once it has been delivered: a step once it is confirmed on the blockchain, the watermark once the minted file carries it, the pinning once the files are pinned. Anything not delivered is returned, also if this page is closed or the connection drops on the way.
Required field
Important information
What it is for. The registration is most useful as a quick, low-cost way to keep track of your works in digital spaces. It provides a clear, public connection between a work, its sales, its license terms and its use. It is considerably better than no record at all, it makes your works easier to connect to attribution models as they develop, and it is designed to augment existing legal practice rather than replace it.
- No legal advice. This page provides general information only. Copyright law varies between jurisdictions and agreements are interpreted on their facts. For transactions of significant value, obtain independent legal advice.
- Copyright exists independently of registration. Under the Berne Convention, protection is not conditional on any formality. A TEIA registration records the terms you set and when you set them; it does not create the right.
- Not a government registration. In the United States, a US work must be registered with the Copyright Office before its owner can sue for infringement (17 U.S.C. §411(a)), and the Supreme Court has held that the Office must have granted or refused the registration, not merely received the application (Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com, 2019). The requirement does not apply to works first published in another Berne Convention country, which is how US law reconciles it with the Convention’s rule against formalities; arguments that it is invalid under the Convention have not succeeded. An on-chain record has none of these effects. Where they matter, register with your national office as well.
- Register early where it counts. In the United States, statutory damages and attorney’s fees are available only if the work was registered before the infringement began, or within three months of its first publication (17 U.S.C. §412). A later registration still allows a suit, but recovery is limited to actual damages and profits, which are harder to prove.
- Ownership of a token is not ownership of copyright. The transfer of an object does not transfer the rights in it (17 U.S.C. §202; Creative Commons). Owners receive precisely the rights the registration grants and no others.
- Ownership is determined by the wallet. The holder of the token holds the rights. In a dispute, wallet holders bear the burden of proving control of the wallet before the relevant court or mediator.
- The written terms prevail. The agreement takes precedence over any data or metadata displayed on or off chain, and the addendum prevails over the generated text in the event of conflict.
- Terms of other platforms. Uploading a work to a third-party website or application usually requires accepting its terms of service or end-user license agreement, which commonly grant the operator a license to host, reproduce and publicly display the work. As between you and that operator, those terms prevail over any license registered here. They do not, as a rule, alter your agreements with any other party, which remain governed by the terms registered here.
- A timestamp is not proof of authorship. The blockchain establishes which wallet signed the terms and when. Retain your working files, drafts and sketches, which evidence the creation of the work.
- Permanence. Files published to IPFS cannot be recalled and a mint cannot be reversed. A registration cannot be amended; any variation requires the consent of the current Owners, and Owners who do not consent retain the original terms.
- License term. Registrations made here default to a three-year term, and run to 25 years at most. There is no perpetual grant: a license without an end cannot be revisited as circumstances change and is difficult to unwind. Only a public-domain release has no term.
- Responsibility. The copyright contract is administered by TEIA DAO LLC, a Marshall Islands non-profit DAO; enforcement is a matter for applicable local law. Neither TEIA nor teia.cafe is a party to the agreement or enforces it. teia.cafe is an independent interface to TEIA's contracts and charges no fee: the registration fee is paid to the TEIA DAO treasury and network fees to Tezos bakers.
- Verification status. Works minted here are minted on TEIA's contract and registered on TEIA's registry, the combination teia.art designates “TEIA + Tezos Verified”, its most secure category of registration.
- Royalties. TEIA pays on-chain royalties on secondary sales. Marketplaces that do not honor on-chain royalties pay none.
- Community standards. TEIA's terms and moderation apply to works minted here as to any other. A work may be hidden on teia.art, although its token and registration remain on chain.
Registered works may be browsed in the copyright marketplace, and works may be checked for similar images using the copyright protection tool.