Trump Is Accused of Using Copyrighted Images in His NFT Collection

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11552215/Trump-accused-using-copyrighted-images-NFT-collection.html

Former President Donald Trump's recently unleashed line of NFT 'digital trading cards' could potentially land him in legal hot water, as many seem to infringe on prior designs. 

Trump launched the line earlier this week and while the images were mocked in parts of the left and right, they did sell out of the first 4,500 put up for sale.

However, members of the media and Twitter users have pointed out that some of them appear to be based on unlicensed, copyrighted photos.  

Many of the designs - including a spacesuit and a cowboy getup - were seen previously on websites for clothing and even stock photos, according to reports. 

One of the images looks like Trump's head planted on what heavily resembles a model for a Men's Warehouse ad.

Another of the NFTs - which shows Trump as a cowboy - appears to be a photoshop of a model for a jacket that's sold on both Walmart and Amazon's websites, according to eagle-eyed users online. 

Yet another showing the former president as a fighter pilot appears to be extremely similar to a Shutterstock image, with many of them resembling backgrounds that were available for free.  

The company behind the images, NFT INT LLC, has not said whether they paid for the license to use the images. 

Crypto website CryptoVinco reported on Twitter that Trump could even potentially face a lawsuit for the potential theft.

Trump announced Friday he had sold out of all 4,500 of the digital cards, which he had hyped earlier in the week. 

OpenSea, an online marketplace, was tracking nearly 12,000 sales, as the NFT's got traded. Most owners had a single item, but some owned more than 50. 

Trump amped up his promotional machinery this week to hype a 'MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT,' which turned out to be a scheme to sell superhero digital trading cards bearing his likeness – with the $99 fee going to himself, and not his one-month-old campaign to retake the White House.

Trump's 'limited edition' trading cards are already sold out, according to the website he touted on Truth Social. But even visitors who missed the boat on getting a digital NFT of Trump decked out as a superhero, an outlaw, a shades-wearing astronaut, or corporate titan surrounded by gold bars get the chance to enter the contest.

Like other companies or entities that want to run a sweepstakes – a 'game of chance' – Trump is required under federal and state laws to let people enter for free by providing an alternate method of entry, and is required to disclose the winners. 

The fine print on a 'no purchase necessary' guarantee in Trump's contest lists a mailing address in Newark, New York, a small town between Syracuse and Buffalo. There, a letter containing a self-addressed, stamped envelope can get earn anyone a single entry (except in Vermont, where you don't have to provide postage).

Teri Pierce of National Sweepstakes Company said the firm was handling the free entries. It is housed in a single-story commercial building next door to a Great Wall Buffet and a Bee-Tee's Diner. 

'Some consumers may think I don’t even have a chance to win, they can still win,' she told DailyMail.com. 

The company has also run sweepstakes for some nationally identifiable clients.

The fine print in Trump's digital trading card deal also lists the 'sponsor' as another company, NFT INT, LLC. The sponsor is registered as an LLC incorporated in Delaware.

A disclaimer, which founds for an arms-length operation, states that, 'Sponsor is not owned, managed, or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Digital LLC, or any of their respective principals or affiliates. Sponsor uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness, and image under license from CIC Digital LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.'

That suggests that the Trump entity created for the NFT project is CIC Digital LLC, which was also incorporated in Delaware in March, 2022. According to the New York Times, it also was incorporated in April 2021 with an address matching the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The firm lists Nick Luna, a former Trump White House aide, as a director. 

NFTs are non-fungible tokens, digital creations that can be sold and traded.

NFT INT, LLC lists an address in Park City, Utah, that appears to be appears to be located in a strip mall located off I-80. It appears to be either in or adjacent to a UPS store, with other neighbors including a vapor company, an Asian bistro, and a mattress store.

DailyMail.com has reached out to both LLCs for comment. 

Trump had hyped the digital cards online.  'They will be gone, I believe, very quickly!' he wrote on Truth Social – in a prediction that proved accurate.

The terms of the sweepstakes, which buyers enter into when they purchase a card even though they also could enter for free, reveal that the total prizes are worth $54,695. Some prizes, like a 30-minute meet-and-greet with Trump as part of a 200-person group, are listed as being valued at between '$0/Priceless.'

At least one prominent figure in Trump world is rejecting the ploy.

'I can't do this anymore,' said former Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon. 'He's one of the greatest presidents in history, but I gotta tell you: whoever – what business partner and anybody on the comms team and anybody at Mar-a-Lago – and I love the folks down there – but we're at war. They oughta be fired today.'

Bannon teed off on Right Side Broadcasting Network after Trump's big reveal. He was sentenced in October to four months in prison following his conviction on contempt of Congress charges.