Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea is sunsetting its on-chain royalty enforcement tool — Operator Filter — that allows creators to blacklist NFT marketplaces that don’t enforce royalties.
The change is set to take effect on Aug. 31, according to an Aug. 17 statement by OpenSea founder and CEO Devin Finzer.
The Operator Filter feature was first introduced in November 2022 and was described as a “simple code snippet” that could restrict NFT sales to only marketplaces that enforced creator fees.
Starting Aug 31, we’ll:
– Sunset the OpenSea Operator Filter
– Move to optional creator fees on all secondary sales for new collections
– Improve visibility of creator fee settings and listings on buyer & seller side
More below:
— OpenSea (@opensea) August 17, 2023
However, Finzer said that the tool hadn’t had the success they had hoped, as it didn’t have the needed support from the NFT ecosystem.
Finzer claimed that NFT marketplaces such as Blur, Dew and LooksRare had circumvented the Operator Filter by integrating the Seaport Protocol to bypass OpenSea’s blacklist and therefore avoid creator fees.
Finzer said they also saw pushback from creators, who saw the tool as encroaching on their control over where their collections were sold.
“We have heard from some creators that the Operator Filter limits their sense of control over where their collections are sold, and at the same time may collide with a collector’s expectation of full ownership.”
“The Operator Filter’s restrictions come at the expense of decentralized ownership,” he added.
Finally, Finzer explained that while creator fees are useful for certain business models, its only one of many revenue streams available to creators and there are a number of other use cases of NFT technology that need to be considered.
We’ve had a few learnings since launching our Operator Filter:
– It relied on opt-in from the entire ecosystem, which didn’t happen
– Creator fees choice is important for collectors and creators
– Creator fees are just one…
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