'Charlie Bit My Finger' Is Leaving YouTube After $760,999 NFT Sale

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: The original 2007 video 'Charlie Bit My Finger,' a standard-bearer of viral internet fascination, has sold as a nonfungible token for $760,999, and the family who created it will take down the original from YouTube for good. The original video, which has close to 900 million views, features Charlie Davies-Carr, an infant in England, biting the finger of his big brother, Harry Davies-Carr, and then laughing after Harry yells 'OWWWW.' The owner will also be able to create their own parody of the video featuring Charlie and Harry Davies-Carr.

Many duplicates of the video remain online, including one apparently rebranded by the family itself in anticipation of the auction. But the auction allowed bidders to 'own the soon-to-be-deleted YouTube phenomenon' and be the 'sole owner of this lovable piece of internet history.' The market for ownership rights to digital art, ephemera and media, known as NFTs, continues to grow and bring attention to widely viewed videos and memes that many people have long forgotten. NFT buyers are not usually acquiring copyrights, trademarks or the sole ownership of whatever they purchase. They're mostly bought with the idea that their copy is authentic.

During anNFT sale, computers are connected to a cryptocurrency network. They record the transaction on a shared ledger and store it on a blockchain, sealing it as part of a permanent public record and serving as a sort of certification of authenticity that cannot be altered or erased.
There were 11 active bidders in the war for the NFT that was driven mainly between two bidders named 3fmusic and mememaster, who ultimately was outbid by 3fmusic by $45,444. The bidding closed on Sunday.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.