COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE AGE OF NFTS: OWNERSHIP AND LICENSING CHALLENGES IN THE INDIAN MARKET

AUTHOR – BOOBESH S, STUDENT AT SASTRA DEEMED UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – BOOBESH S, COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE AGE OF NFTS: OWNERSHIP AND LICENSING CHALLENGES IN THE INDIAN MARKET, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 4 (4) OF 2024, PG. 653-664, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

INTRODUCTION

Technology is changing at lightning speed, and we are seeing more of digital assets than we have ever before. All this has radically changed the heart of ownership, creativity, and intellectual property. Copyright law that has for long protected creators over works was facing enormous challenge in this digital space. One of the latest buzzwords around is that of Non-Fungible Tokens, which attracted some popular artists, tech enthusiasts, and legal scholars alike. They describe unique digital assets, often tied up with content like art, music videos, and even virtual real estate. Unlike cryptos, where one is just as good as the next, each of these NFTs has a characteristic different from its counterpart and is stored on a blockchain that provides an easily identifiable record of ownership. The underlying purpose of copyright law, much like in most others, is to protect the rights of the creators by making the rights over creations exclusively theirs. These rights shall include reproduction rights, distribution rights, and display rights so that they appropriately collect compensation for their mental work. NFT, however, has brought into question major issues regarding copyright laws around this newness. NFTs have placed digital art and content in a peculiar position that one would consider such assets to be sold, bought, and exchanged as separate properties. Thus, in general, it becomes unclear whether the ownership of the intellectual property that constitutes the NFT is legitimate.

KEYWORDS – Copyrights Act, India, NFT, Licensing, Blockchain Technology