Buying digital art: files, rights and tokens

Reviewed on 24 October 2026. Should any information have changed, please notify me and I shall update it with the date of the amendment.

Buying digital art can mean receiving a file, a physical medium, access to an account, an installation, a certificate, a token or a combination of these elements. None of them alone conveys all the others. If what is being transferred is not defined, the buyer may keep a password or an address and still lose the ability to exhibit the work.

What matters is less what has been paid than what can be done afterwards: preserve, exhibit, copy, migrate, lend or resell. The answer must be set out in the contract and in the delivery file; it cannot be inferred from the platform or the means of payment.

The guide How OBJKT works separates the work, file, metadata, token, smart contract and platform. Here that distinction is extended to any digital acquisition, with or without a blockchain.

What is being sold

Before setting the price, describe the transaction. It may combine:

ownership of a physical medium;
delivery of an identified digital copy;
ownership of a copy within an edition;
a licence to exhibit or use the work;
access to files hosted by a third party;
installation equipment or components;
installation, maintenance or update services;
a token that records specific operations.

Avoid wording such as ‘outright sale of the work’ if it does not specify what is transferred. Intellectual property and ownership of the medium are distinct categories.

Ownership of the copy and copyright

Article 17 of the Intellectual Property Act (LPI) grants the author the exclusive exercise of the exploitation rights in the work and, in particular, the rights of reproduction, distribution, communication to the public and transformation, which may not be carried out without the author’s authorisation except in the cases provided for in the Act itself. Article 56.1 establishes that whoever acquires ownership of the medium into which the work has been incorporated has, by that title alone, no exploitation rights over it. Buying the file or the token does not by itself transfer exploitation rights either; the licence or assignment must be in writing.

Article 56.2 provides an exception for the owner of the original of a work of the plastic arts or of a photographic work: the owner holds the right of public exhibition, unless the author expressly excluded it when transferring the original. This guide does not assume that this provision extends to a file, a token or a digital installation. The contract should therefore regulate exhibition expressly.

In a digital artwork, receiving and running a file may involve technical copies. The contract must authorise the acts necessary for the agreed use and distinguish them from other uses. Preservation may require changing format, medium or environment: the necessary technical copies must be expressly authorised and the migrations that do not alter the integrity of the work must be defined, because leaving them unregulated creates uncertainty.

The assignment or licence should specify:

authorised rights or uses;
modes of exploitation;
territory;
term;
exclusive or non-exclusive nature;
possibility of sublicensing;
attribution;
reproduction for backup, installation and preservation;
communication to the public in a gallery or online;
number of installations or locations in which it may be exhibited;
reproduction in catalogues, press, websites and social media;
permitted technical transformations.

Article 43.1 limits the assignment to the right or rights assigned, to the modes of exploitation expressly provided for, and to the term and territory determined. Under Article 43.2, failing to state the term limits the transfer to five years and failing to state the territory limits it to the country in which the assignment is made; if the modes of exploitation are not specified concretely, the assignment is limited to what necessarily follows from the contract and is indispensable for its purpose. Article 43.5 excludes modes of use or means of dissemination that did not exist or were unknown at the time of the assignment. A generic phrase such as ‘all rights’ does not replace that delimitation.

Which files are delivered

The guide Preserving a digital artwork explains how to separate the source file, preservation master, exhibition copy and derivatives. In a purchase, each category raises a distinct contractual question, and backup copies must be distinguished from all of them.

Ask for the format, size, codec, resolution, checksum and delivery date. A checksum lets you check that the bits have not changed from the retained reference; it does not by itself prove who created the file or what it represents. Keep the document linking those files to the transaction.

Exhibition copy

File approved for reproducing the work under specific conditions. It may be compressed or configured for particular equipment. It must be stated whether it may be copied as a backup and who may produce another copy.

Preservation master

Higher-quality file used to verify or generate copies. It is not always delivered to the buyer. If it is, custody, access, reproduction and modifications are agreed.

Editable project or source code

Allows modification, recompilation or migration. Its delivery should not be assumed. It may contain licensed materials, secrets, credentials or work that is not part of the work sold.

Dependencies

Fonts, libraries, plug-ins, data, models, operating systems and external services. Check their licences: that the artist may use them does not always mean the artist may transfer them. A work may depend on an external service that changes or closes; the contract must provide for maintenance, replacement and access to the essential elements.

Documentation

Instructions, diagrams, reference videos, equipment lists and presentation parameters. In complex works, this may be as important as the files themselves.

Medium, equipment, account and access

If the file is delivered on a disc, the contract must state whether the disc is part of the work or is merely packaging. Record the make, model and serial number when the device is constitutive of the work.

If the work depends on an account, a server or an API, determine:

who holds the title to the account, the domain, and the storage;
who pays for the service;
how credentials are transferred;
what happens if the service terminates;
what data is sent to third parties;
whether an offline mode exists;
who can replace the service.

Avoid handing over personal accounts that contain other works or data. Create dedicated access and a recovery procedure.

Certificate, inventory and edition

The delivery file should include:

invoice or contract;
certificate;
a technical data sheet;
inventory of files and components;
checksums;
rights licence;
installation instructions;
known history;
contact for issues.

The guide Technical data sheet, certificate and invoice explains what each document does. The guide How to certify a digital artwork and its editions covers files, hashes, copies and migrations.

If there is an edition, record the total size, the number acquired, versions, artist’s proofs and rules for technical copies, and find out whether the artist or publisher can replace files. Also ask whether other editions, formats or manifestations of the same work may exist. The token number does not necessarily replace the edition record.

Installation, updates and support

Distinguish the acquisition from later services. Agree:

initial installation and calibration;
number of hours or journeys included;
preventive maintenance;
fixing of faults;
security updates;
migration due to obsolescence;
equipment replacement;
availability and cost of the artist or technician;
documentation upon completion of an intervention.

Avoid committing to indefinite maintenance. Define what happens if the artist stops providing support and what decisions the collection may take.

What changes if a token exists

A token may record issuance and transfers on a blockchain; it is not necessarily the file or the contract of sale. It does not by itself demonstrate authorship, authenticity, uniqueness or the transfer of rights. The EUIPO guidelines on trade mark classification describe NFTs as unique digital certificates registered on a blockchain and note that, like conventional certificates, they refer to something other than themselves, so the type of asset authenticated must be specified. These are criteria for classifying goods and services, not a rule on the authenticity of a work or on the rights a token transfers.

Check:

network and smart contract;
token identifier;
issuing wallet;
metadata and file location;
permanence of storage;
licence shown at the time of purchase;
platform commissions and royalties;
possibility of operating without the current interface.

A token does not by itself establish authorship, authenticity or the assignment of exploitation rights. Nor does it guarantee that the link to the file remains active.

Resale and subsequent transfer

Article 19 of the LPI defines distribution as making the original or copies of a work available to the public on a tangible medium. Under paragraph 2, that right is exhausted by the first sale in the European Union, and only for subsequent sales within that territory.

In Tom Kabinet (C-263/18), the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union declared on 19 December 2019 that the supply to the public by way of download of an e-book for permanent use is a 'communication to the public' within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC. In that Directive, exhaustion is linked to the distribution of the work incorporated in a tangible medium (recital 28).

The judgment concerns e-books and does not by itself resolve sales of digital art, but it rules out assuming that a download can be resold like a physical medium. Analyse the contract, the technical architecture and the rights granted.

If a token is transferred, the holder of the token may change without the buyer receiving the file, the account or the rights needed. If a physical medium is transferred, the buyer acquires that medium, not necessarily the power to copy its content.

Before purchasing, request that the contract clarifies this. It should indicate:

what may be transferred to another person;
whether the transfer requires the intervention of the artist, a platform, or another holder;
what documents must accompany the copy;
how provenance is updated;
how the file is delivered without retaining unauthorised copies;
whether the medium or equipment must travel;
whether the licence passes to the subsequent acquirer;
what support is offered to the new holder;
what happens to accounts and credentials.

To prepare the documents for a resale, see how to sell a work from your collection.

Article 24.1 of the LPI recognises the resale right for authors of graphic or plastic works of art and lists, among others, photographs and video art; it does not expressly mention digital files, software or tokens. No general official position on its application to such cases has been located. Do not assume that it applies, and do not rule it out without analysing the specific work.

List of deliverables

Work and identification

Contract or transfer document
Technical data sheet
Certificate
Edition and copy number

Files

File inventory
Exhibition copy
Preservation master, if included
Editable project or source code, if included
Checksums and algorithm

Components and access

Equipment and serial numbers
Dependencies and licences
Accounts, services and responsibilities
Recovery procedure

Rights

Written licence or assignment
Exhibition and communication to the public
Technical copies and preservation
Editorial and promotional reproduction
Transformations and migrations

Maintenance

Initial installation
Support included
Updates and replacements
Protocol for obsolescence, and plan if the platform or provider disappears

Token, if it exists

Network, contract and identifier
Issuing wallet
Metadata and file location
Platform conditions and royalties

Closing the documentation

Update the inventory and the provenance of the work without deleting the previous history. Retain copies of the contract, certificate, invoice, delivery, licence, checksums, metadata, exhibition instructions and relevant communications, and a technical contact. The documentation must make it possible to reconstruct what each party received and under what conditions.

On the open conversation

This guide provides general criteria regarding what a purchaser of a digital work receives and the limitations on its resale; it does not replace the review of a specific contract. Should you have negotiated a purchase or resale of digital art and identified a clause, practice, or judicial decision that allows for the clarification of any of these points, particularly the scope of the Tom Kabinet judgment beyond electronic books, you may write to me.

Sources

Intellectual Property Act, consolidated text, arts. 17, 19, 24, 43 and 56.
CJEU, judgment of 19 December 2019, C-263/18, Tom Kabinet, ECLI:EU:C:2019:1111. Permanent download of e-books and communication to the public.
Matters in Media Art, Acquiring Media Art. Information to gather when acquiring time-based media art; page date: not located.
Guggenheim, Acquisition Checklist: Computer-Based Artwork with Artist-Provided Computer. What that museum seeks to obtain in that acquisition procedure.
EUIPO, trade mark guidelines, 4.4.3 Non-fungible tokens (NFT). Trade mark classification criteria.

Status: Verified. Revision: 11 October 2026. This guide offers general information and does not replace a digital preservation assessment or an adapted contract. If you find a change, a broken link or an error, write to me.

Updated 18 October 2026: clarification provided on what a purchaser of a digital work receives and the limitations on its resale.

Buying digital art: files, rights, certificates and preservation