The Trump family has been in the spotlight for some time now, and now Melania Trump has added more negative flavor to the decay. The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market has experienced rapid expansion, altering the purchasing, selling, and ownership of digital assets.
Amid this digital art craze, the former first lady Melania Trump made news when she unveiled her own NFT collection centered around the iconic Apollo 11 moon landing. Although NFTs have become a well-liked and lucrative medium for artists and collectors, Melania Trump’s NFT release caused controversy because of its close ties to NASA’s illustrious mission.
The potential violation of NASA’s policies governing the use of its intellectual property in such commercial endeavors led to criticism.
Melania’s Apollo 11 NFT collection
Melania Trump’s NFT line is inspired by the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, widely regarded as one of the most outstanding achievements in human history. Tokenized as NFTs, the collection included one-of-a-kind digital artworks, audio snippets, and other multimedia pieces related to the historic event.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital certificates of ownership for digital assets issued on the blockchain and provide their purchasers with a feeling of scarcity and exclusivity.
This week, a Trump has come into conflict with the law, though not the Trump you have in mind. In her most recent NFT drop, the former first lady Melania Trump appears to have violated NASA’s rules on picture usage, which could lead to a dispute.
The iconic photograph of astronaut Buzz Aldrin participating in the NASA-planned Apollo 11 lunar landing is prominently displayed on the souvenir, “Man on the Moon,” unveiled on Wednesday. However, it is completely banned by agency policy to use NASA photos in connection with an NFT project. Gizmodo first reported the suspected breach.
NASA response
According to NASA’s regulations on merchandise requests and media usage guidelines, the agency “does not wish for its images to be used in connection with NFTs” and “is not approving any merchandising applications” connected to NFTs.
According to NASA, “strict laws and regulations” control the permission procedure for businesses or people who desire to utilize NASA pictures, logos, or identifiers on products.
As NASA generally forbids NFT-related applications of its intellectual property, in this case, Melania Trump and the USA Memorabilia NFT platform she employed might not have submitted a request to NASA or rejected it.
The fact that photos created by federal organizations like NASA are in the public domain and can thus be used for free may complicate matters. Who knows how far NASA could take a lawsuit against Melania Trump if they decided to do so?
History suggests that the federal agency will unlikely make such a bold move. Despite having the authority to issue cease-and-desist letters to businesses that disobey the organization’s rules, a NASA attorney previously stated to The Los Angeles Times that NASA leadership prefers more cordial methods of compliance, such as casual discussions with businesses.
The fact that NFTs appear to be the sole category of merchandise prohibited under any circumstances from using NASA photos makes this argument even more specific.
In the NFT industry, Melania Trump has been quite active. After unveiling Solana’s NFT initiatives in late 2021, she introduced a range of NFTs last month, honoring significant events in American history.
Meanwhile, the price of the former United States president Donald Trumps’ own NFT collection surged in March following his criminal indictment by a New York grand jury. Then, in April, Donald Trump drastically reduced the value of the original project by issuing a second set of digital trading cards, wiping away those gains.
