The new copyright frontiers – world-building and advanced technologies *

Abstract

The number of artistic projects which engage with simulated realities, immersive story-telling and virtual world-building has surged over the past few years. These creative explorations of ‘world-building’ have been in part propelled by advances in blockchain technology and the development of technical standards for non-fungible tokens. This chapter focuses on the increasing legal and ethical complexities of artist-led world-building projects. It maps out the contractual relationships of typical stakeholders in such projects, and traverses through the web of copyright-protected works and other subject matter that world-building can be built upon.