In a Discord post published on Wednesday, Matt Hall, the core developer at Larva Labs, the entity behind the popular CryptoPunks V2 and, initially, CryptoPunks V1 nonfungible tokens (NFT) collections, announced he would be "taking appropriate steps" in the following days regarding the alleged copyright infringement of "both the art and the CryptoPunks name" of the CryptoPunks V1 collection. Normally, this would amount to submitting a takedown notice under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA, to the platform responsible for hosting the content for auction. Matt Hall discussing CryptoPunks V1 vs. V2 | Source: Larva Labs official Discord In …

Despite a general consensus amongst degen apes that NFTs are headed to the proverbial moon, space agency NASA has revealed it will not clear the use of its content and logos for take off. This is an important clarification as the US government agencies’ images and video content are typically not copyright protected, and can ordinarily be freely used for educational and informative purposes in media. (Its logos meanwhile are copyrighted and can only be used if approved by NASA). While the NFT sector continues to surge full steam ahead — with platforms such as OpenSea posting record monthly volumes …

Kanye West expressed his frustration at the paparazzi after being filmed arriving at Miami International Airport on Monday, as seen in a video posted by ET Canada. Kanye can be heard saying to the cameraman: "It's just really one-sided. You guys can follow us, you guys to stand from the hotel at any given time. You don't give us any percentage of what you make off us, off our kids. And I'm going to change that." Kanye in Miami | Source: ET Canada The cameraman argued that, "without candid photography, there wouldn't be a [documented] history of celebrities." However, it …

The Lord of the Rings-themed ‘JRR Token’ has met a “bag end” after being forced to shut shop following legal action from the family and estate of the famed series’ author. J.R.R. Tolkien who died in 1973. On Nov. 23, Law360 reported that the Tolkien Estate had reached a settlement with Florida-based developer Matthew Jensen over his JRR Token, which was launched in August this year. According to BSCScan, the BEP-20 token is only held by 510 addresses, with a market supply of 19 trillion. According to the settlement, Jensen promised to shut down the token and delete any content …

Look at your feet. A lot of you (raises hand) are wearing Nikes right now. For the fiscal year ending May 31, 2021, Nike reported its revenue was up 19% to $44.5 billion for the year. But that’s here. What about in the Metaverse? Why Nike is interested in the Metaverse For those as of yet unfamiliar with the concept, the easiest — yet very incomplete — way of imagining the Metaverse is imagining yourself existing in a real-life video game. Nike enters and provides very cool meta-stuff. This is no joke. Nike is very serious about the Metaverse. Patent …

Lawyers for major fast food chain Jack in the Box have filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange FTX US for copyright and trademark infringement of its "Jack" mascot. According to federal court documents filed in the Southern District of California on Nov. 3, Jack in the Box's legal team is requesting a jury trial, claiming FTX US’ Moon Man character — Lou Nar, an adult male typically dressed in polo shirts with the head of a moon used for Major League Baseball events — is a ripoff of the company’s current version of its Jack mascot. The fast food company …

Now, more than ever, the crypto industry is seeing an influx of creators interested in minting nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and collecting them across various marketplaces. With this surge of enthusiasm for the industry comes unique opportunities but also increased security risk, scam hunters and technical challenges. Pastel Network is addressing this issue head-on with advanced duplication detection and secure storage solutions. Sense, a Near-Duplicate NFT Detection Protocol powered by the Pastel Blockchain, quantifies rareness of NFTs and proves authenticity. Cascade, Pastel’s distributed storage protocol, offers permanent storage and redundancy to make sure that creators’ works or collectors’ portfolios will never …

Earlier this summer, CNN and The New York Times each warned that the nonfungible token (NFT) bubble, fueled by buzz over eye-popping valuations for digital art and interest from collectors, might already be bursting. As the sixth employee at a social media startup called Wildfire — which was acquired by Google in 2012 — I’m all too familiar with skeptics and precautionary tales when it comes to new and emerging technologies. Based on my experiences across entertainment, licensing and blockchain technology, I contend that if the so-called NFT bubble is bursting, it could be a net positive for the future …

NFT NSFW Nafty, a blockchain firm that produces decentralized, “not safe for work” (NSFW) platforms, such as OnlyFans competitor Nafty.tv, launched an erotic-themed nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace dubbed “NaftyArt” on Thursday. NaftyArt aims to provide a platform for erotic artists and adult-content creators to promote and sell their tokenized works without fears of it being removed or their accounts shadowbanned. It may also give some NFT proponents an excuse for out-laying large sums of money on NSFW content. The announcement read: “Erotic Artists and Adult Content creators have been struggling for some time to get their work prominently featured on …

The transition to a more digitalized society based on an information economy has created intense pressure for companies to rethink their intellectual property (IP) management. Intangible assets can represent more than 80% of the value in a firm’s balance sheet, and intellectual property in the United States is now worth over $6 trillion in gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Well-managed and leveraged IP can provide a company with a strategic advantage over the competition — not only in terms of customer acquisition, but also with investors and potential employees. Yet these valuable assets present a …

Everyone is wild about nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The first half of 2021 alone saw NFTs from Andy Warhol, NFTs of the code for the World Wide Web, the first-ever Tweet and, of course, the famous $69 million NFT sale of Beeple’s “Everydays.” Whether this explosive rise of NFTs is a flash in the pan or the future of art and beyond is a hot topic of conversation. An emerging theme from that conversation is whether NFTs have a copyright problem. Copyright is engaged throughout the NFT process, but there is nothing inherent in an NFT itself to ensure that copyright …

A nonfungible token (NFT) can be both a representation of a physical or digital asset that only exists on the internet — a programmable piece of art. It provides ownership of an underlying asset, like a painting, and it can also represent a digital asset in the form of a software code. Therefore, I like to conceptualize NFTs in a more technical view: “An NFT is a pattern of smart contracts that provides a standardized way of verifying who owns an NFT, and a standardized way of ‘moving’ nonfungible digital assets.” Before discussing the legality of an NFT, it is …