A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital certificate of ownership built on blockchain technology, that contains the provenance, the history, and all activities surrounding a digital asset. It is on the blockchain - meaning the activities can be viewed by the public and it is immutable. The blockchain keeps an immutable ledger of ownership of the NFT. Each NFT is powered by a smart contract and contains metadata that makes it unique.
Owning an NFT does not confer ownership of the underlying work that the NFT represents. The difference between buying an original artwork and buying an NFT is the non-transfer of copyright in the original underlying work