Not quite. Copyright prevents Bob from misappropriating Alice's work. E.g., Bob purchases a painting from Alice for $100. Bob can not legally now use that painting as a source to make and resell copies.
But Bob can sell the original painting to Charlie for $200 and pocket the entire $200 from Charlie. Alice has nothing to do with that sale, and does not profit from any subsequent sale.
But if Alice sold Bob and NFT instead, when Bob sold it to Charlie, perhaps $180 of Charlie's money would go to Bob and $20 would also go to Alice.
And this would hold true for every future sale, so when Alice died and became a famous dead artist and her works sell for $200K, her estate gets $20K, etc.
To me, this is the sole redeeming value of NFTs, but only if artists can actually keep those rights and revenue streams. The usual path of such things is that middlemen insert themselves to engage in their usual rent-seeking behaviors.
But Bob can sell the original painting to Charlie for $200 and pocket the entire $200 from Charlie. Alice has nothing to do with that sale, and does not profit from any subsequent sale.
But if Alice sold Bob and NFT instead, when Bob sold it to Charlie, perhaps $180 of Charlie's money would go to Bob and $20 would also go to Alice.
And this would hold true for every future sale, so when Alice died and became a famous dead artist and her works sell for $200K, her estate gets $20K, etc.
To me, this is the sole redeeming value of NFTs, but only if artists can actually keep those rights and revenue streams. The usual path of such things is that middlemen insert themselves to engage in their usual rent-seeking behaviors.