NFT IP Protection

The popularity of releasing your own NFTs collections is growing every day. Sad events in Ukraine provoked the release of charitable collections or the creation of NFT contests. However, for a large number of Internet users, NFT is still a secret with seven seals. 

Let’s analyze this concept from all sides in more detail. NFT what is it? NFT non-fungible token is unique for a specific digital content, it is generated (created) once in the blockchain using a smart contract. After NFT, you can sell, buy, or exchange on any NFT market. The most popular platform for this is OpenSea.

Smart contract Blockchains govern who owns the NFT, how it can be transferred, and ensures that no two NFTs are exactly the same. Thus, we essentially get digital content that is protected by copyright.

NFT copyright

Given the specifics of NFT, through the prism of understanding copyright, the date of the digital content fact first publication may be the date of release of the collection. Additional conditions for this are specified in the Ethereum smart contract. I draw the reader’s attention that it is possible to issue an NFT token for any digital image, photo, domain name, video, text, etc. At the same time, the presence of copyright in the material world differs from their presence in the digital one. 

Therefore, in a rapidly developing civilization, it is important to stake out the fact of the first publication on the created masterpiece in the NFT digital picture. In addition, the presence of a correctly issued NFT picture entitles its owner to receive royalties (remuneration) from each sale. This is possible only if this is indicated in the smart contract.

All actions with NFT can be tracked through the transaction history. These entries cannot be changed. This creates uniqueness and rarity which gives value to such an asset. The only caveat is that NFTs are not sold for fiat money, only for crypto. For this, a crypto wallet has been created. Which is the identifier of the ownership of a particular NFT.

IP NFT copyright infringement

The most popular service for issuing and hosting NFT collections is OpenSea. The platform is registered and operates in accordance with United States laws. So, any digital content posted here with copyright infringement is subject to removal. 

For example, OpenSea operates under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and supports NFT notices and removal for copyright infringement. To do this, you must fill out the appropriate form. Evidence of prior ownership of the digital asset in the physical and virtual world must be provided. If there is enough evidence, the digital content of the infringer will be removed.

These cases of copyright infringement on digital content are not standard and have a number of features. Therefore, for the claim letter preparation and the collection of evidence, it is better to contact a patent attorney. In this case, the digital content of the infringer will be deleted as soon as possible.

Release NFT collection

Our company has been cooperating with Blockchain enthusiasts for several years. This made it possible to jointly develop and implement smart contracts for the release of NFT collections. Important conditions are: 

• confirmation of the fact of the first disclosure 
• difference in the use of digital content with material 
• terms of disposal of copyrights to NFT
• terms of protection protection 
• territory   
• distribution of royalties (author’s remuneration)

We placed our unique smart contracts in GitHUB confirming the unique right to them. An example of one of our NFT collections can be viewed here: IpItdoggiesNFT. You can order a full range of legal and IT services for the release NFT collection, taking into account copyright protection, by writing to us by email: info@sion-ip.com