Downloaded 33 times
Uploaded byAndres Guadamuz
Understanding the NFT Ecosystem
This document provides an overview of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and discusses some associated copyright issues. It defines NFTs as digital assets on a blockchain that represent real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. While NFTs claim to transfer ownership, they do not necessarily confer copyright ownership. Issues discussed include authorship problems with user-generated content, the transfer of rights, licence terms, platform enforcement over infringing content, and implications for an artist's moral rights.
Law◦
More Related Content
Similar to Understanding the NFT Ecosystem
Understanding the NFT Ecosystem
- 1. U N DE R S TA N D I N G T H E N F T E C O S Y S T E M A N D R É S G U A D A M U Z , U N I V E R S I T Y O F S U S S E X
- 2. A P OL O G I E S https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3905452
- 3. A N DA D I S C L A I M E R …
- 4. B L OC K C H A I N A N D S M A R T C O N T R A C T S
- 5. W H ATI S A B L O C K C H A I N ? • A blockchain is quite simply an open, permissionless, cryptographic, decentralised ledger. • The ledger is public and decentralised, and since anyone can check past, present and proposed transactions, there is increased reliability in the system.
- 6. C O MP E T I N G T O G U E S S A N U M B E R
- 7. S U CC E S S F U L G U E S S E R G E T S A R E WA R D
- 8. A N EN T RY I N T H E B L O C K C H A I N
- 9. S M AR T C O N T R A C T S • Implemented in code using a common language (eg Solidity). • Pegged to a cryptocurrency for automated payments and transactions. • Transaction and contract get written into the blockchain. • Immutable code, openly verifiable transactions.
- 10. T O KE N S • A token is a digital representation of a good or service written on a blockchain. • It can represent anything, a character in a game, a work of art, airline tickets, frequent flyer miles, provenance, coins. • It’s represented as a smart contract.
- 11.
- 13. N O N- F U N G I B L E T O K E N S • Fungible goods are, by definition, interchangeable, no matter what specific item you are selling or buying. Commodities tend to be fungible - silver, gold, oil, grain. • By contrast, non-fungible goods are those that are unique, such as a specific silver necklace, a gold statuette, or a painting. • Non-fungible tokens are smart contracts that represent a non-fungible good, it will always link to that one item.
- 14. D I FF E R E N T T O K E N S TA N D A R D S ( I N E T H E N V I R O N M E N T ) • Fungible tokens: ERC-20 • Improved fungible token: ERC-223 • Non-fungible tokens: ERC-721 • Token to transfer funds: ERC-777 • Token to transfer copyright: ERC-1190
- 15. N F TS F O R E V E RY T H I N G • Music • Art • Game items • Sport highlights • Collectibles (profile pictures, etc)
- 16. T H IR D PA R T I E S • While you can mint your own stuff, most people use intermediaries. • These marketplaces act as third parties between buyer and seller, may take commission. • Transaction fees as well to keep the network operating. • OpenSea, Mintable, Rarible, Cent, Foundation, etc.
- 17. 3 T YP E S O F N F T • The work is uploaded in its entirety to the blockchain (very rare due to prohibitive cost) . • The NFT is a smart contract that supposedly transfers copyright (not common either). • The NFT is just a code that is uploaded to a blockchain.
- 18. E X AM P L E O F O N - C H A I N A S S E T
- 19. E X AM P L E O F L I C E N S E D A S S E T
- 20. T H EM O S T C O M M O N T O K E N
- 21. W H AT’ S I N T H E M E TA D ATA ? • The ERC-721 standard has only two requirements: • Contract address: the blockchain address. • TokenID, this is a unique number identifier for the NFT, it can be generated by a user, or by a platform. • The token can include all sorts of other information, the most common are the URL to the work, and the creator’s wallet address.
- 22.
- 24. S O ME S TAT I S T I C S • "the average sale price of NFTs is lower than 15 dollars for 75% of the assets, and larger than 1594 dollars, for 1% of the assets.” • "the top 10% of traders alone perform 85% of all transactions and trade at least once 97% of all assets.” • "NFT’s price correlates strongly with the price of NFTs previously sold within the same collection”. • Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/ s41598-021-00053-8
- 25. A N ATO M Y O F A N N F T
- 26. S TA RT W I T H A W O R K
- 27. U P LO A D T O I P F S S E R V I C E
- 28. U S EWA L L E T T O C O N N E C T T O P L AT F O R M
- 29. M I NT U S I N G P L AT F O R M
- 30. A N DI T E X I S T S O N T H E B L O C K C H A I N F O R A L L T O S E E
- 31. H O WE V E R …
- 33. C O PY R I G H T
- 34. I S SU E S • Authorship • What rights are transferred with an NFT? • Licences • Copyright infringement • Platform enforcement and centrality • Moral rights
- 35. A U TH O R S H I P • First owner is the author of the work. • Question about collective works, joint authorship, some works generated by unprofessional outfits. • There could be a question about lack of originality, lots of procedurally generated works. • Ethos is to circumvent/disrupt IP.
- 36. T R AN S F E R O F R I G H T S • For the most part, an NFT does not transfer any ownership. • Ownership of the token, not the underlying asset. • Some NFTs claim to transfer copyright, but they don’t meet formal requirements (transfer must be in writing and signed). • Some NFT projects give licences.
- 37. L I CE N C E S … • When present, licences are often contradictory, confusing, badly drafted. • Personal use (as profile pictures), and limited commercial rights (merch), but not many other rights. • What about buyers down the chain of resales who have not agreed to the licence?
- 38. F U ND I N G • This image has been released into the public domain after sale of NFT. • Potential for funding using NFTs, the copyright element is irrelevant, people sell items to fund projects. • https://www.freehawaiiphoto.com/ download
- 39. C O PY R I G H T I N F R I N G E M E N T ? • People are minting works that do not belong to them, or without permission. • Is it infringement? • Minting is not an exclusive right of the author, it’s not copying, not publishing, could be communication to the public. • But link could be linking to existing work.
- 40. C O PY R I G H T I N F R I N G E M E N T ?
- 41. C O PY R I G H T I N F R I N G E M E N T ?
- 42. C O PY F R A U D
- 43. M I RA M A X S U E S TA R A N T I N O O V E R N F T S
- 44. P L ATF O R M E N F O R C E M E N T ( P L AT F O R M I S L A W ) • Most disputes are being resolved by the platforms (and strong community enforcement). • Infringing or stolen items removed from sale, which makes this an issue of intermediary liability. • Web3 is supposed to favour decentralisation, but platforms have lots of power potentially.
- 46. M O RA L R I G H T S • Next are of conflict, people are taking other people’s profiles and minting them. • This image sold for $100k. • Now removed, but right of integrity?
- 47. O T HE R I P • There may be scope for using NFTs for proof of ownership, but I’m personally sceptical of their usefulness in this. • Registration? • Trade mark infringement is likely.
- 48. C O NC L U D I N G …
- 49. @ T EC H N O L L A M A Thanks!