NFT Artist Claims Sotheby’s Withholding His Auction Profits

Cory Van Lew, a NFT artist, has accused Sotheby’s with refusing to give him his NFT-award profits. The Van Lew has now filed a lawsuit against Sotheby’s – possibly for fraud. Other web3 artists also claim that the company has not paid them.

How did Sotheby’s withhold Van Lew’s auction profit?

This week, Sotheby’s makes headlines again – this time for holding back an NFT artist’s profits. Cory Van Lew, a popular visual artist, shared the news via Twitter on May 19th.

Surprisingly, though, Van Lew’s issues with the auction house had begun way back in October 2021. Sotheby’s did not give Van Lew any of the NFT auction profits.

In fact, Van Lew was inspired by the tragedy to create his own auction-style platform. The new site follows the same principles as the NFT market’s dominant decentralization.

Have other artists had issues with Sotheby’s?

Unfortunately, Cory Van Lew is just one of the many artists going through financial problems from Sotheby’s. Drift, a digital artist (@DrifterShoots), had to wait for over a month before he received payment for his NFT auction. Surprisingly other digital artists have had similar experiences.

All in all, the leading auction house might be unreliable when it comes to NFT artists’ auctions. Now, victims such as Drift share their advice on Twitter:

“Artists can be afraid to speak up because we are so happy to be included in such a prestigious place but this is wrong,” the artist wrote in a tweet. “I stand in solidarity with Cory and the other artists waiting. If we are professionals then we expect to be treated the same.”