CryptoPunks and Meebits NFTs are owned by members of the community, but the intellectual property rights of the characters had long (and controversially) been owned by the projects’ creators. With this announcement, Yuga Labs signaled that they will be giving full commercial rights of the NFTs to the individual holders; they notably won’t be transferring the full copyright, but is a step further than Larva Labs ever went and something owners had long desired.
“We’ve long admired CryptoPunks, and the work of the project’s founders, Matt & John. They’ve pushed NFTs and the broader crypto world forward, and we’re honored to carry the brands they’ve built into the future we’re building at Yuga,” a tweet from the Yuga Labs Twitter account reads.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/11/bored-apes-maker-yuga-labs-acquires-cryptopunks-nft-collection/