On April 12, 2022, the relevant departments and offices of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized a symposium on digital collections in Beijing, and conducted in-depth discussions on the public welfare attributes, data security, consumer rights and interests of cultural institutions in view of the current development status of digital collections.
Experts attending the meeting believe that in recent years, new technologies, new methods and new formats for the digitization of cultural relics have emerged, and cultural and cultural institutions should actively promote the open sharing of cultural relics information resources to meet the growing cultural needs of the people. In the development and utilization of cultural relics information resources, cultural and cultural institutions should adhere to the public welfare attribute. Encourage social forces to use cultural relics resources to carry out reasonable innovation and creation through formal authorization, and use information technology to stimulate the interpretation and dissemination of cultural relics value, and cultural and museum units should not directly sell the original data of cultural relics as limited commodities; they should establish a management system with clear rights and responsibilities, standardized procedures, and effective overall planning, firmly grasp the correct ideological orientation, and ensure the security of cultural relics information. Consumers should choose a reasonable, legal, healthy and orderly collection method, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, and stay away from the risks arising from blind speculation.
It can be said that this is a positive response of the national cultural relics authorities to the wave of cultural innovation that is still emerging in the digital collection of cultural relics above the society.
Limited edition digital collections of artifacts tend to sell out quickly on the platform
So, what is a digital collection of artifacts? How does it differ from the non-homogeneous digital token (NFT) that just went viral last year? The digital collection of cultural relics looks quite cheap, how should ordinary people consume and view the digital collection?
The concept of digital collection is a bit new, and it, along with technical terms such as NFT, blockchain, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality, has only become popular in the last year or two.
Digital collections, according to the most basic interpretation, is to use blockchain technology, corresponding to the unique digital credentials generated by specific works and artworks, on the basis of protecting their digital copyright, to achieve true and credible digital distribution, purchase, collection and use.
Digital Collection "Changxin Palace Lamp"
In December 2021, Mr. A spent 19.9 yuan on the Alipay whale exploration platform to buy a digital collection of the Hebei Museum's treasure "Changxin Palace Lamp". Mr. A can zoom in on this national treasure from different angles on his mobile phone, appreciate the details, obtain relevant cultural relics knowledge, and share the thrill of snapping up on social platforms - this 10,000 copies of the "Changxin Palace Lamp" digital collection sold out immediately after it was launched on the whale exploration platform.
The digital collection of cultural relics launched by other museums has also been popular on the platform, and almost all models have been sold out. For example, the national treasure of the Henan Museum" "Women's Good Owl Zun", the treasure of the Hubei Provincial Museum "Yue Wang Gou Jian Sword", the "Tiger-shaped Jade Ornament" of the Nanjing Museum, and the "Dunhuang Feitian" and "Nine-Colored Deer" payment code skin launched by the Dunhuang Academy of Fine Arts.
These are all digital collections of artifacts, but they are not NFTs. Because it is clearly stated on the purchase instructions of the sale platform: the copyright of the digital collection is owned by the distributor or the original creator, and the user shall not use the digital collection for any commercial purpose unless otherwise obtained the written consent of the copyright owner. Local downloads are not supported for this product source file. Do not hype, over-the-counter, fraudulent, or use your digital collection in any other illegal way.
In this way, the digital collection only has the functions of appreciation, research, collection and sharing, which is equivalent to a digital cultural and creative product that can be seen and touched.
The Yue King hooks the sword and its digital collection
According to the open features of the platform, the digital collection can be transferred after 180 days of holding. The recipient can re-donate after holding it for two years. Note that this is "resale", not "resale". In this way, the digital collection does not have a circulation nature, completely shields the unique financial attributes of the NFT, so it is fundamentally different from the NFT.
However, due to the extremely hot market for digital collections, some people have targeted the 180-day transfer period, and some people have made profits through private auctions for digital collections that meet the transfer period. At present, it has been found that some users are selling digital collections at high prices on second-hand trading platforms, such as the payment code skins of "Dunhuang Feitian" and "Nine Colored Deer", which have been sold for hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan.
In this regard, the "Whale Detective Digital Collector" issued an announcement on February 22 this year, expressing its resolute opposition to any form of digital collection resale, saying that this behavior often has the risk of fraud, which is easy to cause bad speculation and contradicts the positioning of digital collections. In response to the resale behavior, 56 whale detective users were restricted by the platform to their transfer function. Prior to this, Whale Detective also punished hundreds of users who used plug-ins, scripts, etc. to buy digital collections on a large scale, restricting their purchase of digital collections.
Some commentators believe that the concept of digital collection originates from the NFT, and the dynamic game between technological development and human greed will determine the upper limit of the development of digital collections.
Nowadays, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage's discussion opinions on digital collections first clarified that in the context of the digitization of cultural relics, cultural and cultural institutions should actively promote the open sharing of cultural relics information resources to meet the growing cultural needs of the people, and at the same time adhere to the public welfare attribute in the development and utilization of cultural relics information resources; secondly, encourage social forces to use cultural relics resources for reasonable innovation and creation through formal authorization, and make it clear that cultural relics units should not directly sell the original data of cultural relics as limited commodities; for consumers, We should choose a reasonable, legal, healthy and orderly collection method, safeguard our legitimate rights and interests, and stay away from the risks caused by blind speculation.
So, do you know a lot about where the digital collection of cultural relics will go in the future?