Copyright and Non-Fungible Tokens : This Is Not an NFT

Abstract: This thesis explores the relationship between NFTs and copyright. The discussion is centred around the three themes of protection, infringement, and agreements. In terms of protection, the type of art generally seen on the NFT market faces two principal problems: first, NFT art is frequently very simple; second, many NFTs are based on algorithmically generated images. When minting an NFT, the underlying work is reproduced and communicated to the public, either directly or by linking. Consequently, minting an NFT of a protected work may be unlawful without the author’s consent. An important actor on the NFT market are the trading platforms where users can create and sell NFTs. These actors earn commissions from sales and have a responsibility to ensure that illegal material is not available through their sites, lest they be held accountable for the infringements of their users. Transfer of copyright can be explicit or implicit, and it is likely that some rights to the underlying artwork are included in the purchase of an NFT. However, there are international differences concerning the requirements of copyright agreements, especially concerning the author’s moral rights. This may be an issue on the NFT market where extensive licensing is common and the link to the author is often tenuous. The themes explored suggest that there is an opposition between the core principles of copyright law and those governing the NFT market: the former are based in the centralised phenomenon of law, whereas the latter are founded in a decentralised philosophy where code is law.