The legal side of NFT copyright has been in a fog ever since the 2021 NFT boom. This year, an ownership protocol called BKopy aims to change this by offering NFT owners legal rights to use their assets via digital signatures. In fact, NFT creators can include any legal agreements they need within their own NFTs’ smart contracts. This new concept recently convinced Sotheby to use it for its first Metaverse sale of “Infocalypse” from their “Snow Crash” project on February 27th – but why?
What is BKopy?
In essence, BKopy is a new company that helps NFT creators incorporate copyright or other legal obligations within their smart contracts. As a user, you can embed digital signatures with actual legal value into each NFT transaction.
In other words, this new system links legal documents with intellectual property and the Web3 world. This includes, for example, your NFTs’ rarity, authenticity, origins, and other critical artwork-related aspects.
“The NFT boom has tantalized artists and buyers alike. But there’s room for improvement as the current system leaves artists vulnerable to exploitation by players who ignore the terms of ‘contracts,'” said “metaverse” pioneer Neal Stephenson. “BKopy provides artists and collectors with the same protections they take for granted in the world of physical art, and I’m excited to be an early adopter.”
How Can this System Change NFT copyrights?
Smart contracts always came as proof of ownership. However, the artwork itself and its rarity or creator royalties were never truly protected. That’s precisely why so many NFT projects have stolen details from successful drops or collections.
If BKopy‘s innovation catches on, the community can actually start facing legal charges should they not stick to the copyright terms and conditions in each NFT smart contract. This could avoid NFT trademark law cases, such as the landmark Hermes vs. MetaBirkin case. This move is definitely interesting to watch as BKopy will launch its services soon.
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