Participants SpiceDAO (formerly DuneDAO) announced plans to create an “original, animated series” inspired by the published version of the unfilmed film Dune by Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky. The crypto community criticised the project’s plans.
We won the auction for €2.66M. Now our mission is to:
1. Make the book public (to the extent permitted by law)
2. Produce an original animated limited series inspired by the book and sell it to a streaming service
3. Support derivative projects from the community pic.twitter.com/g4QnF6YZBp
— Spice DAO (🏜,🏜) (@TheSpiceDAO) January 15, 2022
On November 22, 2021, Soban “Sobi” Sakib purchased Jodorowsky’s Dune at Christie’s auction for $3.8 million. He bid on behalf of DuneDAO, but participated in the bidding and won it personally. The DAO participants said that they would continue raising funds to pay Sakib the remaining amount.
The 1975 edition includes the film’s storyboard with dialogues in French and English, as well as descriptions of characters and their surroundings. The project was cancelled in 1975. Dune is considered the greatest unfilmed film.
On January 15, 2022, SpiceDAO announced the next steps: make the book public, create a series based on it, and sell it to a streaming service. This drew laughter from the community — one Twitter user noted that buying a physical copy of the book does not grant the owner any copyright or licensing rights.
These guys spent €2.66M under the belief that this earns them the IP rights to DUNE. We do not live in a meritocracy https://t.co/K33lfpPmOs
— the twink with no name ♂️ (@postingtwink) January 16, 2022
’Dune’ has been adapted for the screen by David Lynch (1984), John Harrison (2000), and Denis Villeneuve (2021). Rights to the television adaptation belong to Legendary Entertainment, and the copyright on the printed version belongs to the 92-year-old Jodorowsky.
One critic of the SpiceDAO idea added that an incomplete copy of the rare “Dune” (there are about 10 to 20 copies in existence) can be found online. His post has garnered almost 8,000 likes.
“Do you think that if you bought a Spider-Man comic you could start making Spider-Man movies as well?”, he asked.
You bought a collectible for 100X estimated value. Do you think if you bought a Spider-Man comic you could start making Spider-Man movies as well? pic.twitter.com/hKDzwn0xN2
— Journalistic Facts (@JournalistFact1) January 16, 2022
“I spent 10 minutes staring at this, but no, it really does appear that a bunch of crypto bros just spent €2.6 MILLION — 100x the asking price — on a book at auction, mistakenly assuming they would own the copyright to it,” wrote another participant in the discussion.
I have genuinely spent 10 minutes starting at this but, no, it really DOES appear to be true that a bunch of cryptobros just spent €2.6 MILLION — 100x the asking price — for a book at auction in the mistaken belief that they would therefore own the copyright in it. https://t.co/2HmaGWHKWF
— Gary Brannan (@garybrannan) January 17, 2022
Some users started joking about SpiceDAO’s tweet. One of them said that ‘I just bought a copy of Harry Potter, can’t wait to start my animated series of it. Gonna sell it to Netflix.’
I just bought a copy of Harry Potter, can’t wait to start my animated series of it. Gonna sell it to Netflix.
— Lawrence J. Chaffee (@HerbiePopnecka) January 16, 2022
Even before the discussion on Twitter, in December 2021 SpiceDAO acknowledged that it did not own intellectual property.
“We have a unique opportunity to create our own addition to the genre as a tribute to the giants who came before us,” the blog says.
According to a recent SpiceDAO tweet, participants bought the book as a “historical artifact,” but “they raised so much money and built such a strong community” that they decided to make a completely new animated series.
They were reminded, however, that this product would also be protected by copyright.
The animated series is still a derivative work and a performance of the copyrighted work, and you still need the permission of the copyright holder, which you are not. You still haven’t talked to a copyright lawyer, have you? https://t.co/iqDHE3tgjl
— SeenEnoughAlready (@Xperienced_) January 18, 2022
In late 2021, enthusiasts created BlockbusterDAO with the aim of acquiring the brand of the now-defunct video rental chain Blockbuster.
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