  We explore issues relating to the storage of digital art, based on an
empirical investigation into the storage of audiovisual data referenced by
non-fungible tokens (NFTs). We identify current trends in NFT data storage and
highlight problems with implemented solutions. We particularly focus our
investigation on the use of the Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS), which emerges
as a popular and versatile distributed storage solution for NFTs. Based on the
analysis of discovered data storage techniques, we propose a set of best
practices to ensure long-term storage survivability of NFT data. While helpful
for forming the NFT art market into a legitimate long-term environment for
digital art, our recommendations are also directly applicable for improving the
availability and integrity of non-NFT digital art.
