‘Should Art Be Regulated by the SEC?’: NFT Artists’ New Lawsuit Seeks Answers

Musician Jonathan Mann and conceptual artist Brian Frye have sued the SEC in a Louisiana federal court, asking whether art sold as NFTs should be regulated as securities. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that their planned NFT projects, one of 10,420 remix NFTs of "This Song Is a Security" and one of 10,320 NFTs on Ethereum, do not violate US securities laws. The complaint points to the SEC's 2023 settlements with Impact Theory, over $6 million, and Stoner Cats, which paid a $1 million fine, and argues that the SEC's actions could reach beyond NFTs to the art market. The SEC declined to comment, and it has 60 days from the filing date to respond.