In the auction listing, it had been said that the original video would be taken off YouTube following the sale, allowing the winning bidder to have sole exclusivity.
However, when the auction ended on May 23, many users took to reuploading one of the internet’s most-watched clips back onto YouTube.
They were against the removal, saying they didn’t want a piece of internet history to disappear, with some even feeling NFTs tarnished the emotional value of the content.
Now, in a new twist, the winning bidder has decided to leave the original video up on the social media platform.
“After the auction, we connected with the buyer, who ended up deciding to keep the video on YouTube,” said Howard Davies-Carr, the father of the two boys in the famed clip, to Quartz.
“The buyer felt that the video is an important part of popular culture and shouldn’t be taken down. It will now live on YouTube for the masses to continue enjoying as well as memorialized as an NFT on the blockchain,” he further explained.
With the buyer’s decision to leave the original video online, maybe re-uploaders won’t continue to feel as though a part of pop culture has been taken away.