CCTV.com calls for Bored Ape? When Bored Ape arrives in China's "parallel universe"
It is foreseeable that in the future, more Chinese companies seeking the young user market will purchase "monkeys."Author: Runsheng & Nianqing, Chain Catcher
Recently, many people have likely seen the following screenshot, where the official Weibo account of CCTV participated in the "Meeting You is My Ape" topic and retweeted the official promotional video of "Bored Ape" by Phoenix Weekly.
CCTV actually endorsed "Bored Ape"?
In fact, the Bored Ape series endorsed by CCTV and Phoenix Weekly is not the original BAYC NFT, but the Chinese version of the BATC digital collectibles.
B ATC : Sales amount approximately 5 65 ten thousand yuan
The BATC series of digital collectibles is issued by the Chinese digital collectibles platform "Top Collectibles." It is a derivative project based on the purchased copyright of "BAYC #5513 Bored Ape," extending the avatar of the Bored Ape to create a full-body image, incorporating more Chinese cultural elements in the design.
According to the official introduction, this is a story about #5513 Bored Ape and his "Chinese Parallel Universe"—"Top Collectibles has given #5513 Bored Ape a new world and a new worldview. In the new storyline, Top Collectibles leads #5513 Bored Ape and the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) to China." Ultimately, the Chinese version of the Bored Apes formed the Bored Ape Toho Club (BATC).
Public information shows that the company behind it, Top Collectibles, is a blockchain-based digital collectibles sales platform, affiliated with Top Idol (Beijing) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. Its main services include the development and operation promotion of digital collectibles and virtual digital humans.
According to NFTGO data, #5513 Bored Ape was sold on June 2 for 139 ETH (which, based on the ETH price at the time, exceeded $250,000, approximately 1.7 million yuan), with the buyer identified as the official wallet address of "Toho" top collector. Top Collectibles announced the purchase on June 6 and stated that they would create a derivative work based on this Bored Ape. The BATC series opened for reservation on July 29, with a lottery-based sales method, and purchases opened on August 1.
Each BATC monkey is randomly generated from 11 parts and over 400 different components, totaling 9999 pieces. The sale price is 588 yuan per piece. Although the price of this "Chinese version of Bored Ape" NFT series is dozens of times higher than that of the Green Land Group's release in June, the endorsement from official media like CCTV has attracted even greater attention. Official statistics show that by the end of the event, a total of 267,968 people had reserved for the lottery. Ultimately, after deducting the value of 388 Bored Apes reserved for officials, the final sales amount of BATC was approximately 5.65 million yuan.
Currently, BATC seems to be a good business.
In addition, the Top Collectibles platform announced that BATC series digital collectibles can be circulated, and its app has also supported the transfer function. Currently, according to information from some communities and X Meta collectibles exchange platforms, the price of a BATC in the secondary market has risen to over a thousand yuan.
It is worth mentioning that the BATC club has also imitated BAYC to operate a DAO community, where community members can enjoy: priority purchasing rights for future sales of advanced Bored Ape materials, blind box airdrops, advanced or upgraded material airdrops, and other membership benefits; a digital identity card for entering the TOHO World Bored Ape district; shared copyright dividends of #5513 Bored Ape.
Members can also become top business partners, sharing industry opportunities and cross-brand collaborations with BATC Bored Ape holders, and possess "derivative creation rights."
Generally speaking, BAYC has long granted Bored Ape NFT holders complete commercial usage rights for the purchased collectibles, allowing buyers to use them to create creative derivative works. In other words, each buyer can use their owned Bored Ape as their project or product brand and sell it independently.
But do derivative works have the rights of "derivative creation"? Does this "infinite nesting doll" operation pose legal risks?
According to China's "Intellectual Property Protection Law," derivative works hold copyright, meaning they have copyright over the new works formed after rewriting and adaptation. Additionally, Bored Apes belong to the CC0 (meaning "No Rights Reserved," i.e., Creative Commons Zero copyright) NFT, and the CC0 model allows users to continuously derive content, creating a flywheel effect to promote the spread and value growth of original works.
Related Reading: How CC0, Low Fidelity, and On-Chain Metadata Unlock the Composability Potential of NFTs
Bored Apes in China
Top Collector is not the first domestic company to commercially use Bored Apes. According to incomplete statistics from Chain Catcher, previously, Chinese companies like Li Ning, Greenland Group, and Beike have also utilized their purchased Bored Apes for commercial marketing.
On April 23, Li Ning launched the "Li Ning Bored Ape Trend Sports Club" clothing series based on their owned Bored Ape "BAYC #4102" and held an offline pop-up event; in June, Greenland Group announced that it would combine its owned "BAYC #8302" with three animal NFTs in Aworld to form the "Fortune and Luck" combination, creating a derivative work based on BAYC #8302, and released the Greenland Group 30th Anniversary commemorative digital collectibles series on June 20; Beike, the first stock of health smart hardware, announced the purchase of BAYC #1365, symbolizing being able to sleep early every day for 365 days, and launched the "Bored Ape Health Club" with the slogan: "Why not sleep early when bored?"
Why are Bored Apes frequently used by domestic companies for marketing activities?
Today, Bored Apes have surpassed CryptoPunks to become the most well-known IP in the industry, with its floor price once being more than twice that of CryptoPunks. In the 15 months since its launch, BAYC has broken through globally, attracting numerous celebrities such as NBA player LaMelo Ball, pop star Justin Bieber, and Jay Chou, as well as collaborations with companies like Adidas, Rolling Stone magazine, and Universal Music Group.
Moreover, the copyright openness principle of Bored Apes completely breaks the traditional exclusive licensing derivative concept of IP, allowing any commercial institution or individual to purchase another Bored Ape NFT avatar for their own commercial development, eliminating the complexities of commercial negotiations and offering more flexible forms.
On the other hand, since BAYC is an overseas IP born in the NFT field, there exists a significant gray area in the domestic traditional environment. The copyright openness and complete commercial usage rights claimed by Bored Apes are not legally defined in the domestic context.
With the continuous improvement of the NFT user base and the support of traffic effects, it is a natural choice for domestic companies to actively embrace NFT artworks represented by Bored Apes. It can be anticipated that more Chinese enterprises seeking the young user market will purchase "Bored Apes" to build brand images or engage in derivative creation in the future.
