When purchasing an NFT, you acquire both the ownership record of an item, as well as access to that item. Because they are stored on the blockchain, NFTs are unquestionably authentic. NFTs allow content creators to actually own the rights to their digital creations.
For example, whilst anyone can copy an image or music file, NFTs prove ownership of the original piece of work and can therefore be traded for a much higher price. In addition, artists and creators can sell their work with conditional contracts that allow them to profit from future increases in value on resale.