If you own an NFT, you have the ability to write someone else’s address on a socially recognized ledger of ownership. That is all that matters. If the NFT and the ledger have wide interest, this ability to transfer ownership has value regardless of any legal subtleties.

None of this needs NFTs or blockchains though.

We already have a concept of ‘ownership’ in the real world.

If an artist wants to sell a digital work to someone they can do so - just write up a contract, sign it, exchange some value, and you’re done. Selling things is a well understood concept. We have a legal framework for it.

If an NFT represents a transferable sellable set of rights, then those rights have to be expressed in a sale agreement of some sort (implied or explicit).

Sure, the blockchain gives you an easy way to handle the ‘transfer of ownership’ portion of a subsequent sale, but items not some radical new form of ownership - it rests on an underlying legal framework that is indistinguishable from selling deeds to acres on the moon or selling numbered prints of an artwork with a certificate of authenticity.

> If you own an NFT, you have the ability to write someone else’s address on a socially recognized ledger of ownership

If that "socially recognized ledger of ownership" ceases to exist, then what?

Either there remains interest and social consensus around this ledger, in which case it can be rebooted on a different network, for example, or even by a centralized party; or maybe you are the only one with an interest in your NFT collection, in which case you can keep a copy of the ledger yourself.

I'm not convinced. Art galleries are easy to launch, even in 500 years time. What you're describing is hard to do.

I can fork a centralized copy of a chain much more easily than I can start a gallery.

Sure you can do that right now. But my point was more: physical objects can be traded easily in the far future.

We can hardly rebuild stuff from source after 20years time, so I'm pretty sure you will not be able to revive long dead blockchains as easy as renting a space to trade physical objects of collectible value.

My point here was more akin to saying: Sure, if no one cares about your NFT, or the chain it is on, then yes, it's worthless. If you want to be the last one to care, keep a copy of the chain.

The physical equivalent is a worthless painting that no one cares about and your grandchildren throw out.

Exactly, you own a ledger entry. Stop saying that is like baseball cards. I can frame and hang a real baseball card on my wall because I own it and it is real. I can hang a digital frame on the wall and point it at your NFT and have the "real" thing even though I don't own it. It is simply a pyramid scheme. Some people will make a lot of money and some will lose a lot. I do see people who are so convinced that NFTs will be around 20 years from putting their entire net worth into NFTs and planning to HODL.