April 30, 2021 | less than a minute read

The Pet Rock of 2021 . . .

Taylor English

Who knew that NFTs would be the heir apparent of the Cabbage Patch, Tickle Me Elmo and My Pet Rock! You don't have to get it, but if you do, there is a lot of money to be made. Check out this article highlighting one of the newest recipients of the NFT windfall. There are a lot of implications for intellectual property rights and the monetization of those rights.

A North Carolina college student who grew up known as "Disaster Girl" just made about $500,000 from her meme-turned-NFT. As The New York Times explains, Zoë Roth's father took a picture of her while the neighborhood gathered to witness a controlled house fire intentionally set by firefighters. That sinister-looking picture — taken in 2005 when Roth was 4 — became an iconic meme, and the original image was auctioned off earlier this month as a non-fungible token for 180 Ether, a form of cryptocurrency (roughly $497,000).