Bittime - The current intellectual gap in NFT property is still based on the conventional 20th century Copyright Law.
This causes restrictions on the potential of blockchain technology which should be able to further develop.
Finding NFT Meeting Points with Intellectual Property Law
Although the world's attention has turned to artificial intelligence, two years ago, the dominant technology was non-fungible tokens ("NFTs").
NFTs are non-fungible tokens stored on the blockchain and are usually associated with various types of assets, especially digital art .
In 2021, NFT trading reached a value of $25 billion, with famous works such as Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" selling for $69.3 million.
Summarizing this huge interest, the US Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property asked the US Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") as well as the US Copyright Office to compile a report exploring the intersection between NFTs and intellectual property rights.
Check Today's Crypto Market:
Exploration of NFTs with Intellectual Property Rights
At the beginning of this year, on March 12, 2024, the USPTO and the Copyright Office submitted their report to the Subcommittee.
The report concludes that existing intellectual property rights laws are sufficient to address NFTs and that any changes to such laws could hinder the development of NFTs, given the ever-evolving nature of the technology.
In other words, the USPTO and the Copyright Office assert that there are no new aspects of NFTs that significantly challenge the boundaries of existing intellectual property rights laws.
However, this does not mean there are no copyright and trademark legal disputes involving NFTs.
Also Read: Artrade: Art in the Future, Token Market with RWA (Real World Asset) Basis
Dynamics of NFT Intellectual Property
Some of the early disputes include Quentin Tarantino's NFT of several original manuscript pages from Pulp Fiction, plans for an NFT of a 12-panel Cubist mural by Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain, and an NFT clone of Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Some lawsuits are still ongoing. One of the most prominent is Hermès' lawsuit against artist Mason Rothschild, alleging that his MetaBirkin NFT collection infringes Hermès' "Birkin" trademark.
Although the jury and district court judge agreed with Hermès, Rothschild has appealed to the Second Circuit.
Additionally, a dispute between Nike and StockX over the use of Nike sneaker images in NFT "claim tickets" for real sneakers is still in the trial phase.
However, as the USPTO and the Copyright Office conclude, courts can resolve these disputes using existing intellectual property laws.
Also Read How to Buy Crypto:
Blockchain Secondary Liability Problems
However, there is unexplored potential for NFT-related litigation, which could raise new questions—and consequences—that current intellectual property laws may not be able to answer.
When a platform hosts an NFT (which is immutable, meaning it cannot be changed or deleted) that infringes someone else's copyright, when should the platform be held responsible?
The answer could have a significant impact on future innovation, not just in the context of NFTs, but blockchain as a whole.
Clear rules already exist for standard (changeable) user-generated content on the Internet.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) addresses copyright infringement by providing a safe harbor for online platforms that host infringing user-generated content, as long as the content meets a set of requirements.
At the heart of these requirements is a notification and takedown system. When a platform becomes aware of a particular violation—whether through notification from a rights owner or otherwise—it must remove the violation or risk losing its safe haven.
If the safe harbor does not apply, the platform may then be subject to so-called secondary liability or liability for violations committed by users (i.e., direct infringers).
Also Read: The Future of Art: Is NFPrompt the Answer?
Details of Responsibilities
There are two types of secondary responsibility: vicarious responsibility and contributive responsibility.
Vicarious liability occurs when the defendant has the right and ability to control a violation and derives direct financial benefit from the violation.
Contributory liability occurs when the defendant is aware of a particular violation and actually contributes to that violation.
As in the case of DMCA safe harbors, contributory liability is often tied to notice and takedown obligations.
These safe harbor and secondary liability provisions have worked well in Web 2.0, where platforms like Facebook remove posts or Amazon moderates listings to comply with the law.
Check Crypto Prices Today:
Continuous Development
However, NFTs and blockchain introduce a new feature that complicates this structure: immutability.
One of the main features of blockchain technology is the inability to change or delete recorded data.
Although some commentators and the public—mostly incorrectly—consider NFTs to be digital art, they are actually just tokens stored on the blockchain.
An NFT is a unique, non-fungible unit of data that is created, or “minted,” on a blockchain and can represent ownership or other rights to a related asset, such as a work of art, music, electronic files, or other things.
NFTs are similar to original works of art or autographed baseballs—irreplaceable objects—a far cry from US dollars or apples, which can be replaced with other dollars or apples. This property differs from crypto assets, which are fungible as each bitcoin.
For example, it has the same value as other bitcoins. Because NFTs are tokens stored on the blockchain, they cannot be changed.
Also Read: Spiderchain: Aspiring to Become a Layer 2 EVM Compatible for Bitcoin
Related Reports
In the report, the USPTO and the Copyright Office discuss this important issue and its potential implications for liability.
They acknowledged that "some commenters doubted the possibility of removing or 'wiping' offending assets because blockchains are designed to be immutable." However, the report did not further investigate these concerns.
Instead, this case discusses how the separate issues between decentralized storage and pseudonymous use are not unique to NFTs.
Although questions about immutability and secondary liability were not answered in the report, they remain significant gaps between NFTs and intellectual property law.
Also Read: Crypto Asset Staking is Safer with ZK Staking on Polyhedra
Notice and takedown, which is the essence of the secondary copyright infringement doctrine, is not suitable for immutable NFTs.
For example, take a look at the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea. Like many other online platforms, OpenSea strives to comply with the DMCA and provides a takedown request process for copyright violations.
Upon receipt of notification of infringement, OpenSea will remove the collection or item, delisting the NFT from its marketplace.
How to Buy Crypto on Bittime
You can buy and sell crypto assets in an easy and safe way via Bittime . Bittime is one of the best crypto applications in Indonesia which is officially registered with Bappebti.
To be able to buy crypto assets on Bittime , make sure you have registered and completed identity verification. Apart from that, also make sure that you have sufficient balance by depositing some funds into your wallet. For your information, the minimum purchase of assets on Bittime is IDR 10,000. After that, you can purchase crypto assets in the application.
Learn Complete Guide How to Buy Crypto on Bittime .
Monitor price chart movements of Bitcoin (BTC) , Ethereum (ETH) , Solana (SOL) and other cryptos to find out today's crypto market trends in real-time on Bittime.
Also Read:
USDe Integrated into Bybit, Ethena Labs Stablecoin Gains New Utility
Get to know Cupcake: A TikTok-like crypto game that offers Solana-based prizes
What is Airdrop Mode? Guide to Getting Free Tokens Only Here
DISCLAIMER: This article is informational in nature and is not an offer or invitation to sell or buy any crypto assets. Trading crypto assets is a high-risk activity. Crypto asset prices are volatile, where prices can change significantly from time to time and Bittime is not responsible for changes in fluctuations in crypto asset exchange rates.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.