Melania Trump, the former First Lady, appears to have stirred up a potential dispute with NASA by seemingly infringing the federal agency's image usage policy in her recent NFT release. The NFT, named "Man on the Moon," was launched on Wednesday and prominently displays the renowned 1969 photograph of astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the NASA-led Apollo 11 moon landing. However, NASA's policy strictly forbids the use of its images in relation to an NFT project, as reported first by Gizmodo.
The guidelines of NASA clearly state, “NASA does not desire its images to be utilized in association with NFT,” and it also mentions that the agency is "not approving any merchandising applications" linked to NFT.
Any company or individual wishing to use NASA imagery, emblems, or identifiers on merchandise must get approval from the agency, which is governed by “strict laws and regulations.”
In this instance, it seems that Trump and the USA Memorabilia NFT platform she used may have either not submitted a request to NASA or may have had a request turned down, as NASA strictly forbids NFT-related uses of its intellectual property.
However, complicating the situation is the fact that images produced by federal agencies like NASA are part of the public domain and can be used for free. If NASA were to pursue legal action against Trump, the extent of such a lawsuit is uncertain.
Based on past experiences, it's unlikely that the federal agency would take such a drastic step. A NASA attorney previously told The Los Angeles Times that while the organization can send cease-and-desist letters to merchants who violate its policies, NASA leadership tends to prefer more friendly routes to compliance, including informal conversations with merchants.
What makes this case unique is that NFT seem to be the only type of merchandise that is banned from using NASA images under all circumstances.
Trump has been quite active in the NFT space. Last month, she launched a line of NFT commemorating moments in American history, after initially launching Solana NFT projects in late 2021.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump's own NFT collection saw a price surge in March after he was indicted on criminal charges by a New York grand jury. He then erased those gains by releasing a second batch of digital trading cards in April, significantly diluting the initial project’s value.
