NFT marketplace OpenSea to disable royalty enforcement tool

OpenSea, a leading NFT marketplace, has announced it will discontinue its on-chain royalty enforcement tool known as the Operator Filter. This tool enabled creators to block NFT marketplaces that didn’t uphold royalties.

Effective from August 31, this decision was revealed in a statement by OpenSea’s founder and CEO, Devin Finzer, on August 17.

Introduced in November 2022, the Operator Filter was designed as a straightforward piece of code, ensuring NFT sales occurred only on platforms that recognized and enforced creator fees.

Yet, according to Finzer, the tool didn’t gain the traction they had anticipated due to insufficient backing from the broader NFT community.

Marketplaces like Blur, Dew, and LooksRare found workarounds to the Operator Filter by integrating with the Seaport Protocol. This move allowed them to sidestep OpenSea’s restrictions and evade paying creator fees.

Additionally, OpenSea faced resistance from some creators, who viewed the Operator Filter as an imposition, limiting their freedom to decide where their collections would be available for sale.

“We have heard from some creators that the Operator Filter limits their sense of control over where their collections are sold, and at the same time may collide with a collector’s expectation of full ownership.”

Finally, Finzer explained that while creator fees are useful for certain business models, its only one of many revenue streams available to creators and there are a number of other use cases of NFT technology that need to be considered.

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