What are NFT creator royalties?

NFT creator royalties, also called creator earnings, allocate part of a sale to a creator or another designated recipient. They are intended to support creators through resales and are distinct from marketplace commissions and network fees.

ERC-2981 specifies how to retrieve the recipient and royalty amount. The standard alone does not enforce collection. Payment depends on the marketplace and the mechanisms supported by the contract. A displayed percentage should not be mistaken for money already received.

Example

Assume a hypothetical NFT sells for 2 ETH with a 5% creator royalty that is actually paid. The creator receives 2 × 0.05 = 0.1 ETH. The seller has 1.9 ETH before marketplace fees and other deductions. The rate is illustrative and does not describe a real collection.

Do royalty payments transfer copyright?

No. Paying a share of a sale does not establish that the buyer can reproduce the artwork or use it commercially. Those permissions come from the license. A gas fee is a separate cost of executing a blockchain transaction, rather than a payment to the creator.

Our NFT market analysis separates a stated royalty rate from collected revenue. The fee example in the NFT buying checklist distinguishes purchase costs from resale charges.