Magic Eden Launches Protocol to Enforce Creator Royalties

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has updated its position on creator royalties, saying Thursday that it is launching a protocol that will enforce royalties on all new collections that opt-in to using the tool.

The Open Creator Protocol (OCP) is an open-source tool built on top of Solana's SPL managed-token standard and will give creators launching new collections the choice of whether they want to have royalties protected. Beginning Dec. 2, Magic Eden will enforce royalties on all collections that adopt the standard and will give creators the option of banning marketplaces that don't enforce royalties.

For creators that don't adopt OCP for their NFTs, royalties will remain optional on the platform.

"The Solana community has been waiting for solutions to NFT royalties,” Jack Lu, CEO and co-founder of Magic Eden, said in a press release. "Our intention with Open Creator Protocol is to immediately support royalties for creators launching new collections while continuing to coordinate with ecosystem partners for more solutions.”

In addition, the new protocol also offers dynamic royalties, a feature that outlines a relationship between an NFT's sale price and royalty amount based on a linear price curve, along with customizable token transferability, which allows creators to gamify the rules of their collection's trading behavior.

Upon launch, the platform will be hosting a free "Magic Mint" for users to test out the Open Creator Protocol and its features.

Read more: Retract Royalties, Reduce Revenue: NFT Creators Are Suffering and so Are Marketplaces

The new protocol arrives a month after the top Solana NFT marketplace switched to an optional royalty model, saying in a Twitter thread at the time that the move had "serious implications for the ecosystem." Optional royalties favor traders who are looking to sell fast and make a profit.

"Unfortunately, royalties are not enforceable on a protocol level, so we have had to adapt to shifting market dynamics," it said at the time. Several other marketplaces, including X2Y2 and LooksRare, also opted to make creator royalties optional, though the former recently flipped its decision after receiving pushback.

Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea also took a clear stance earlier this month against making royalties optional, noting that the space was "trending toward significantly fewer fees paid to creators."

Meanwhile, NFT marketplace Exchange.Art launched a new standard earlier this month called the “Royalties Protection Standard," which ensures royalties are enforced on secondary sales of NFTs that originate on its platform.