A token can be unique without transferring every right around the referenced work.
Why it matters
The technical ownership claim and the legal-rights claim must be read separately.
What the chain records
ERC-721 contracts map unique token identifiers to addresses and define transfer behavior. Metadata may be on-chain, content-addressed or hosted elsewhere, with different persistence assumptions.
What it does not grant automatically
Owning a token does not automatically assign copyright, trademark rights, physical possession or an enforceable promise from a project. Those require law, license language and an identifiable counterparty.
Where it proved useful
NFT standards demonstrated interoperable identifiers, creator experiments, tickets, memberships and game objects. Durable value varies with issuer continuity, community demand, storage and legal terms.
The consumer check
Read the contract, metadata location, license, royalty mechanism, upgrade power, marketplace dependency and issuer promises. The joint U.S. study found substantial confusion even while concluding existing IP law can generally address the issues.