Non-Fungible Tokens & Intellectual Property - Tricky Aspects Explained

Introduction

This new full day in-person course explores some of the legal and financial aspects of the ever-increasing use of non-fungible tokens (‘NFTs’) and their present major dependence on existing ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain technology.

The remarkable, and still increasing, use and media coverage of NFTs in computer gaming and increasingly the high value art market has led to a number of NFT misconceptions which will be highlighted.

The legal ramifications, especially the still widely misunderstood copyright and other IP positions, will be specifically referred to along with potential jurisdictional and security issues.

Whilst the seminar is primarily aimed at solicitors, art market professionals are also welcome.

What You Will Learn

This in-person course will cover the following:

• What is a ‘token’? The difference between ‘fungible’ and ‘non-fungible’
• ‘Blockchain’ - what it is and importantly is not as regards NFTs - the vital information not presently stored within the blockchain. The emergence of NFTs posing computer security risks
• The increasingly serious problem of ‘link rot’ - should clients be advised on methods to minimise the impact?
• An account of NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea and Rarible. Some pointers to selecting an appropriate marketplace for the type of work in hand. An indicator of marketplace and other costs involved in NFT transactions
• What actual rights are or are not likely to have been transferred in a given NFT transaction - this can be a particularly difficult issue for many clients to appreciate. Why a proposed NFT transaction and surrounding facts should be always be carefully considered from the start. Other IP rights? Might there be any equitable IP rights attached to an NFT sale and purchase?
• Can more than one NFT really be sold in a given work?
• Moral rights in NFT transactions. Applicability of artist's resale right?
• A brief account of the NFT environmental issue and why some artists refuse to consider NFTs as a matter of principle