In Thomson Reuters: NFT Litigation: Shaping IP Rights in the Metaverse

In an article for Thomson Reuters Westlaw Today, Peter Willsey, Vincent Badolato and Jason Sobel examined recent and pending litigation involving non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The article, titled “NFT litigation: Shaping IP rights in the metaverse,” noted that the advent of NFTs has disrupted the pre-existing perceptions of IP and contractual rights and has increasingly become fertile ground for litigation.

“Powering these disputes is the potential uncertainty around what rights are acquired when an NFT is sold and purchased,” they wrote. “That uncertainty is inherent in the choose-your-own-adventure nature of NFTs wherein creators who ‘mint’ NFTs can package intangible rights as part of an NFT.”

The authors also suggested that NFTs may be considered a bridge to the “Metaverse,” raising the fundamental question of whether trademarks, copyrights, and rights of publicity in the real world are also enforceable and exploitable in the Metaverse.

“Compounding the issues raised by that question is another one: where does an aggrieved party go for a remedy in the NFT space, which is fueled by decentralization and anonymity?”

Read the full article here.