NFT auctions and copyright
NFT is defined as a non-fungible token. The technology, which was developed in 2017, runs on the Ether blockchain. The main feature of these tokens is the uniqueness of each one of them. Due to the fact that these tokens are unique, objects of the real world are increasingly converted into them. But who owns the copyright in this case?
Today, in the form of NFTs, they mainly sell paintings and videos. Consider the most expensive token for now – the Beeple painting for $ 69 million. The artist remains the author and copyright holder, since he has created the painting. The individual who bought the token at Christie’s does not own the exclusive rights to the painting. The platform that created the painting token, for example, MakersPlace, has a limited license. That is, there is no agreement between the buyer and the creator of the original art object, exclusive rights remain with the author. Whether a customer can, say, print mugs with a Beeple painting is not entirely clear.
A third party who wants to create a token of something of a work of art or other object of the real world will not receive any rights. Such NFTs can only exist within the platform on which they were made. If they want to sell it, the author can file a lawsuit.
So far, the issue of rights is regulated only by the specific platform on which the NFT was released. The law does not in any way connect the sale of NFT with the transfer of rights to art as an object of intellectual property. In order for this, at least in theory, to become possible, the rules of the system in which NFTs are sold must provide for the transfer of exclusive rights to the buyer of the token, and the copyright holder of the work of art must accept them.
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