Despite a general consensus that NFTs are destined for great success, the space agency NASA has revealed that it will not allow the use of its content and logos. This is an important clarification as US government agency images and video content are typically not copyrighted and can normally be freely used for educational and informational purposes in the media. Its logos, on the other hand, are protected by copyright and can only be used if approved by NASA. As the NFT sector continues to rise in full swing, with platforms such as OpenSea posting record monthly volumes as early as January, NASA has stated, via its media usage guidelines, that it does not want its content to be tokenized: “Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are, in essence, digital tokens owned by someone as a 'one of a kind' digital asset. NASA does not want its images used for these purposes. It is illegal to falsely claim copyright or other rights in NASA material. "
The NASA logo has often been used for commercial purposes such as branding on fashion items. "NASA is not approving any merchandising applications involving non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as they are inconsistent with the product categories the agency is approved to make," the guidelines read. According to guidelines established for government agencies, it cannot approve merchandising or products in industries such as alcohol, food, cosmetics, tobacco, underwear, and technology. However, NASA has been indirectly involved in NFT space through other avenues in the past. Cointelegraph reported on an NFT-backed metaverse project dubbed "mars4" that built a detailed 3D model of Mars using data from NASA and other space agencies.
ARTICLE NASA NOK