Non-Fungible Tokens Under The Perspective Of Indian Copyright Law

Deepika G, School of Law, Christ University

Dr. Avishek Chakraborty, School of Law, Christ University

ABSTRACT

The Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT’s) is a digital asset representing the real world objects like art, music, in game items and the videos which is recorded in a blockchain technology. The implementation of NFT takes place through the Etherum Blockchain. The relationship between the NFT’s and copyright law is quite complex which needs to be analyzed in a legal context. Copyright grants rights to the creator of the work where such rights become questionable when it comes to NFT’s. It is crucial to consider the distinction between the ownership of copyrighted work and the ownership of NFT in order to protect the artwork that is present inside the NFT. The underpinning copyright is not transferred by just purchasing an NFT unless it is stated in the agreement between seller and the purchaser. The assignment and licensing in NFT is based on the nature of transfer which is either absolute by assigning the copyrighted work or limited by providing license along with the terms and conditions. The licensing is likely to take place in an NFT during the sale rather than assignment. The First sale doctrine allows the resale of the copyrighted work without the permission of the owner which is ambiguous in an NFT where the applicability is only determined based on the contract entered by the copyright owner. The copyright infringement takes place in an NFT when the copies are reproduced without the valid authorization of the copyright owner. The intermediaries can be held responsible for copyright infringement while listing the NFT’s. The existing copyright laws must be considered in order to determine the legal grounds for NFT’s as there is an absence of a specific legislation with regard to the applicability on NFT’s.

Keywords: Non-fungible tokens, ownership, assignment, licensing, intermediaries, digital assets, first sale doctrine, sale, resale, block chain, non-exchangeable.