A generative artwork may produce thousands of results, yet this does not necessitate their sale, nor does it render every execution an editioned copy. Editing requires establishing prior to sale what constitutes the artwork, who generates it, how many units exist, what is discarded, and what may be replaced.
Platforms execute technical and commercial rules. They do not supersede artistic intent, the certificate, or the contract.
Define what is being edited
One may edit the entire system, executions identified by seed, selected outputs, results generated by the buyer, a variable installation, or tokens or physical objects produced from the system.
The guide What to document in a generative artwork: algorithm, seed, parameters and when it remains the same work distinguishes between system, execution, output, variant, and copy. Do not declare an edition until the transmitted unit is identified.
Closed edition
This has a maximum fixed from the outset. Record the size, numbers, proofs, reserves, allocation criteria, the relationship between number, seed and file, closure, and the handling of errors.
"100 copies" must equate to something verifiable: one hundred seeds, one hundred approved outputs, one hundred tokens, or one hundred objects. Do not mix categories.
Open edition
This does not start from a maximum or maintains availability. It must clarify who generates, whether it can be closed, whether the code changes, whether the results are unique, and what occurs following an update.
Open does not necessarily mean eternal. It may be closed by decision, technical condition, or the disappearance of the system. Declare this.
Time-limited edition
This is open for a specific period. Fix the start and end times with time zone, extensions, failures, suspension, the moment that counts as acquisition, final supply, and the possibility of reopening.
Retain these rules outside the platform interface.
Who selects
Artist selection
Record criteria, version, approved seeds, and discards where relevant. Do not present the series as pure chance if subsequent curation occurred.
Reveal on purchase
The acquisition activates or assigns an output. Document the generator, seed, reveal, and handling of errors.
Collector parameters
Fix ranges and consequences. The intervention of the collector does not automatically determine authorship or co-ownership.
Community selection and evolving editions
If users select, mutate, or produce descendants, preserve the genealogy and versions. Do not label an edition as closed if its code and descendants remain open without explanation.
Seeds and copies
A seed only reproduces an output if the code, random generator, dependencies, and environment remain constant. Verify this.
For each copy, record:
- copy and number;
- system version;
- seed;
- parameters;
- date;
- file and checksum;
- token, if applicable;
- status: available, sold, proof, cancelled, or replaced.
If the output cannot be repeated, save the file. If it can be repeated, commercial uniqueness rests upon the rules and documentation, not upon the impossibility of copying.
Proofs and reserves
Decide beforehand the number of artist’s proofs, technical proofs, archive proofs, exhibition copies, and replacements. Equivalent proofs form part of the declared supply. Do not create unlimited reserves after selling a closed edition.
Technical copy is not an editioned copy
Distinguish between preservation master, backup, exhibition copy, temporary copy, sold copy, and documentary render. The difference must appear in the certificate and contract. The guide How to certify a digital artwork and its editions develops this separation, and Buying digital art: files, rights, certificates and preservation explains what the buyer receives.
Replacement and regeneration
Fix what occurs if the file is corrupted, hosting disappears, a token is lost, the format changes, recompilation is required, or an error appears.
Record the previous and new file, the reason, approval, and checksums. If the result changes, do not present it as a mere copy without evaluating the identity.
With blockchain
Platforms formulate editions in their own manner. Art Blocks indicates on its website that the artist writes the algorithm and that each artwork is created at the moment it is collected. The fxhash documentation outlines two supply models: the fixed limited edition and the open edition, which has no upper limit on iterations and allows for a closing time to be set; if none is set, the project may be minted indefinitely. Its documentation also describes open-form projects, in which each minted edition may generate new descendant editions. These are platform practices, not legal categories.
Record the system, version, smart contract, network, supply, token, seed, code and output location, metadata, and the possibility of operating without the interface. How OBJKT works: publishing, buying and preserving digital art on Tezos separates the token, file, metadata, and platform.
Without blockchain
You may use an inventory, copy number, certificate, file, checksum, contract, owner registry, and secure delivery. A blockchain is not necessary to define or preserve an edition.
Copy dossier
Include the identifier, edition, number, system, version, seed, parameters, file, checksum, date, generation method, proofs, licence, replacements, and history. Integrate these documents with Technical data sheet, certificate and invoice: what each document does.
Taxation and resale
VAT treatment depends on the object transmitted and the specific operation. This guide does not resolve this, nor does it assert that a digital file, a token, or a generative output receives the same treatment as a traditional art object. Consult the VAT Act and seek tax advice before setting the price and invoice.
Article 24 of the Intellectual Property Act regulates the resale right of authors of works of fine art, among which it mentions photographs and video art pieces. It applies to resales in which art market professionals intervene, including through online intermediaries, and only when the price reaches the threshold set by the regulation. Act 3/2008, which previously regulated this right, appears as repealed in its consolidated text since 3 March 2019.
No express mention of born-digital artworks has been located in these regulations, nor is there any general official doctrine that includes them. Do not assume the resale right applies to every digital resale: analyse it according to the object transmitted. Capital gain without the artist explains its logic without extending it here by analogy.
Checklist
- The copy is defined.
- The edition is described as closed, open, time-limited or evolving.
- Supply and reserves were fixed before sale.
- Selection, reveal, and customisation are distinguished.
- Seed, version, parameters, and file are linked.
- Discards and cancellations have a procedure.
- Technical copies are not confused with editioned copies.
- Regeneration and replacement have a protocol.
- Token, file, artwork and rights are separated.
- The edition can be preserved outside the platform.
- No tax or resale regime was extrapolated.
Further reading
- What to document in a generative artwork: algorithm, seed, parameters and when it remains the same work.
- How to certify a digital artwork and its editions.
- How OBJKT works: publishing, buying and preserving digital art on Tezos.
- Technical data sheet, certificate and invoice: what each document does.
Sources
- Art Blocks. Website homepage, where the quoted phrases were read; consulted on 11 October 2026; no publication date is shown, only the 2026 copyright notice.
- fxhash, documentation: pricing and supply. Supply models; page with no date located.
- fxhash, documentation: programming open-form generative art. Editions that generate descendants; page with no date located.
- VAT Act, consolidated text of the BOE. General reference source; last update published on 7 October 2026. Its articles on art objects have not been used to support any specific claim in this guide.
- Intellectual Property Act, consolidated text of the BOE. Article 24; last update published on 12 October 2021.
- Act 3/2008, consolidated text of the BOE. Repealed text: the consolidated text shows it as repealed since 3 March 2019; last update published on 2 March 2019.
Status: Verified. Revision: 11 October 2026. General information, not tax or contractual advice. If you find an error, write to me.