'The Most Expensive GIF of All Time'- Reaction

My first reaction to the article was shock. I couldn't fathom that Jeff Koons' balloon dog sculpture sold at auction for $58.4 million. Not that the piece wasn't excellent and gorgeous, but that is an insane amount of money.

Art's value is determined by how much value a person places on the piece and how much they are willing to pay. The GIF attempting to be sold for thousands of dollars is even crazier to me because it is not even a tangible object, it is completely digital. It also holds value but someone could copy it or create something extremely similar and you would never know. There is no property to be held.

This is not to say that digital art doesn't hold value, but there would have to be some form of intellectual property protection on the file. If anyone can use the file, why would anyone want to spend money on the art, but that being said art is meant to be displayed. So it is a bit of a dilemma.

I think that digital art can be paid for and owned, but that the value is most likely going to be much lower than the value of physical, tangible art. The then owner has the responsibility of protecting their property in whatever way they want.