The rapid expansion of institutional repositories (IRs) has heightened concerns about digital rights management (DRM), copyright protection, content authenticity, and long-term digital preservation, particularly in developing countries where institutional and technological capacities remain constrained. This study examines the feasibility of adopting blockchain technology as a DRM solution for Ghanaian institutional repositories and evaluates whether its application is transformative or largely aspirational. Guided by the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, the study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design that integrated quantitative survey data with qualitative interviews with ICT directors, repository managers, academic librarians, systems librarians, and faculty members from eight Ghanaian universities. The findings reveal low DRM maturity across institutional repositories. 40% of participating institutions lacked formal DRM mechanisms. Although awareness of blockchain technology was moderately high among respondents, substantial disparities existed across stakeholder groups, with ICT personnel demonstrating higher levels of understanding than faculty members and academic librarians. Institutional readiness for blockchain adoption remained generally poor, constrained by inadequate infrastructure, funding limitations, insufficient technical expertise, weak policy frameworks, and low organizational preparedness. Despite these limitations, stakeholders expressed strong support for blockchain’s potential to strengthen tamper-proof authorship verification, enhance content authenticity and integrity, improve transparency through immutable audit trails, and automate copyright management through smart contracts. The study further suggests that capacity building, phased implementation strategies, open-source platforms, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional policy alignment are critical pathways for integrating blockchain into institutional repositories. The study concludes that blockchain-enabled DRM in Ghanaian IRs is a promising, emerging innovation and that its successful implementation depends on sustained investment in digital infrastructure, institutional reforms, technical training, and supportive regulatory frameworks.
Supplementary appendix to the article "Digital Cash and the Governance of Payment Finality." It contains material displaced from the main text for length, referenced at the corresponding points in the article, and forming no part of the manuscript word count. The appendix documents in full the evidence that claims for digital cash treat technical irreversibility as legal finality, with the passages and page references from Böhme, Christin, Edelman and Moore (2015), Cong and He (2018), De Filippi and Hassan (2016), Kiviat (2015), Atzori (2017) and Politou, Casino, Alepis and Patsakis (2019), together with the passages in which several of those authors qualify or abandon the claim. It further sets out the argument that append-only recording does not entail unrecoverable entitlement: the regulatory history of write-once, read-many electronic recordkeeping under SEC Rule 17a-4 and its 2022 amendment; the accounting mechanics by which a chargeback operates as a contra entry rather than an erasure; the equivalence between that mechanism and reversal by subsequent transaction on a distributed ledger; and two limits on the argument, being value irretrievable because no person holds the key, and records whose own existence is the wrong, as with personal data subject to an erasure right.
The transformation of the copyright institution in the context of the intensive development of digital technologies and the globalization of the information space is studied. The legal nature of objects created with the help of artificial intelligence systems is analyzed, and the challenges facing the traditional anthropocentric model of authorship are identified. The features of non-fungible token technology (NFT) as a tool for monetizing digital art are identified
This study aims to examine how Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), based on blockchain technology, are creating new digital cultural values in the field of photography in the era of digital transformation, as well as to analyze their legal regulation and practical applications. The research employs qualitative methodologies, including document analysis, comparative analysis, and case study approaches. Within the framework of Mongolia’s Law on Intellectual Property and Law on Virtual Asset Service Providers, the legal status of NFTs is examined, alongside an analysis of the operations of domestic platforms such as “Mongol NFT” and “Complex.” The findings reveal that NFTs technologically reconstruct the “digital aura” and uniqueness of photography, enabling what can be described as “digital permanence” whereby cultural heritage can be archived immutably. Legal analysis indicates that blockchain-based records have the potential to be recognized as “electronic evidence” within the Mongolian judicial system. However, a key challenge remains in the ambiguous distinction between ownership rights and copyright. Furthermore, the study identifies environmental concerns associated with the NFT minting process, estimating an average carbon footprint of approximately 20 kg of CO₂ per NFT, thereby highlighting ecological risks. While NFTs present new opportunities for photographers to protect and monetize their intellectual property, the study concludes that enhanced technological literacy, market stability, and more refined legal regulation are essential for sustainable development in this domain. Гэрэл зургийн NFT дижитал соёлын үнэт зүйлийн тээгч болох нь Энэхүү судалгааны ажил нь дижитал шилжилтийн эрин үед блокчэйн технологид суурилсан NFT (Non-Fungible Token) нь гэрэл зургийн салбарт хэрхэн дижитал соёлын шинэ үнэт зүйлийг бий болгож буйг тодорхойлох, түүний эрх зүйн зохицуулалт болон практик хэрэглээнд дүн шинжилгээ хийхийг зорьсон болно. Ингэхдээ чанарын судалгааны арга, баримт бичгийн шинжилгээ, харьцуулсан шинжилгээ болон кэйс шинжилгээний аргуудыг ашиглалаа. Монгол Улсын "Оюуны өмчийн тухай хууль", "Виртуал хөрөнгийн үйлчилгээ үзүүлэгчийн тухай хууль"-ийн хүрээнд NFT-ийн эрх зүйн статусыг шинжлэн, "Mongol NFT", "Complex" зэрэг дотоодын платформуудын үйл ажиллагаанд дүн шинжилгээ хийсэн. Судалгаагаар NFT нь гэрэл зургийн "дижитал аура" болон ховор шинж чанарыг технологийн аргаар нөхөн сэргээж, "дижитал мөнхлөл" (digital permanence) буюу соёлын өвийг өөрчлөгдөшгүйгээр архивлах боломжийг олгож байгааг тогтоов. Эрх зүйн дүн шинжилгээгээр блокчэйн дээрх бүртгэл нь Монгол Улсын шүүхийн шатанд "цахим нотлох баримт" болон үнэлэгдэх боломжтойг баталсан боловч өмчлөх эрх ба зохиогчийн эрхийн зааг ялгаа тодорхойгүй байгаа нь гол сорилт болж байна. Мөн NFT-ийг "mint" хийх үйл явц нь байгаль орчинд нүүрстөрөгчийн ул мөр үлдээж буйг (нэгж NFT тутамд дунджаар 20 кг ) тооцооллоор гаргаж, экологийн эрсдэлийг тодорхойлов. NFT нь гэрэл зурагчдын оюуны өмчийг хамгаалах, эдийн засгийн эргэлтэд оруулах шинэ гарц мөн боловч технологийн мэдлэг, зах зээлийн тогтвортой байдал болон эрх зүйн нарийвчилсан зохицуулалт зайлшгүй шаардлагатай байна. Түлхүүр үг: Блокчэйн технологи, Гэрэл зургийн архив, Дижитал өмчлөл, Ухаалаг гэрээ, Метаверс, Зохиогчийн эрх
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has significantly transformed the landscape of commerce, leading to new challenges in the protection and enforcement of trademark rights. Traditionally, trademarks functioned within territorial boundaries and were primarily associated with physical goods and services. However, the emergence of digital platforms such as e-commerce websites, social media, domain name systems, blockchain technologies, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse has expanded the scope of trademark usage into virtual environments. This Paper examines the evolving nature of trademark protection in the digital and virtual world, with particular emphasis on the adequacy of existing legal frameworks in addressing contemporary challenges. It analyzes key issues such as cybersquatting, keyword advertising, social media infringement, unauthorized use of trademarks in NFTs, and the complexities of trademark use in the metaverse. The study also highlights jurisdictional challenges arising from the borderless nature of the internet, which complicate enforcement mechanisms and legal remedies.
NFT (Non-Fungible Token), son yıllarda kripto varlık ekosisteminde önemli bir dönüşüm yaratmış dijital varlıklardır. Dijital sanat eserlerinden koleksiyonluk eşyalara, oyun içi varlıklardan sanal gayrimenkullere kadar birçok alanda kullanılmakta olup, dijital içeriklerin özgünlük ve sahiplik niteliklerini kripto varlık biçiminde temsil etmektedir. Bu çalışmada NFT kavramı, tarihsel gelişimi, kullanım alanları ve türleriyle, NFT’lerin güvenilirliğini sağlayan Blokzincir, ikinci nesli Ethereum ile akıllı sözleşmeler gibi teknik yapısı üzerinde durularak hukuki niteliği konusunda değerlendirmeler yer almaktadır.
Dr. Soumya M Anakal, Sharanabasava, Vinayak S Chakki
The global creator economy exceeds $100 billion but remains dominated by platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and Patreon. These platforms control distribution and monetization, charging high fees, delaying payments, and exercising censorship. To address these issues, a decentralized Web3 Music and Content Monetization Platform is proposed. The system uses blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized storage, and crypto wallets to enable creators to upload, mint, and sell their digital content directly to audiences. Each asset is stored on the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) and represented on the Polygon blockchain as an ERC-721 token. Consumers purchase NFTs via MetaMask, and smart contracts automatically transfer payments to creators, enforcing royalties without intermediaries. A prototype demonstrates NFT minting, wallet-based payments, and content access control, validating the technical feasibility of the approach. Compared with centralized systems, the proposed platform offers instant payments, transparent ownership, and censorship resistance, aligning with similar advancements in decentralized music and publishing platforms. Future work includes exploring multi-chain support, decentralized governance through DAOs, and integrating metaverse applications.
The convergence of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has triggered a doctrinal crisis in copyright, contract, and evidence law across several major jurisdictions, including the United States, the European Union, and selected Asian legal systems. By 2025, over 70% of top NFT sales feature hybrid human–AI creations, yet most remain in legal and economic “gray zones” across jurisdictions. This article examines the challenge of partial AI authorship through a comparative analysis of U.S., EU, and Asian legal frameworks, revealing enduring gaps in originality doctrine, inconsistencies in the treatment of blockchain-based evidence, and contested approaches to smart contract enforceability and royalty mechanisms. Particular attention is given to the technical processes through which AI systems source, transform, and recombine data from public and private domains, raising unresolved questions of infringement, attribution, and authorship when copyrighted works are used without authorization. Drawing on originality doctrine, transformative use standards, and fair use principles, the analysis argues that legal protection should be confined to AI-assisted outputs that reflect meaningful human creative judgment and demonstrable transformation, rather than automated reproduction. Situating these doctrinal tensions within broader patterns of market volatility, regulatory arbitrage, and unequal access to justice. It concludes that adaptive, pluralist governance is essential to achieving legally coherent and socially sustainable outcomes in the digital creative economy.
William Fernando Martínez Luna, Ana María Moreno Ballesteros, Edgar José Ruiz Dorantes
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are transforming the commercialisation of digital art by establishing unique blockchain identifiers that ensure authenticity and certify subsequent transactions. However, the transfer of control over an NFT does not automatically include the transfer of the associated copyrights, thereby creating legal uncertainty as to what rights are actually acquired. This interdisciplinary project between engineering and law proposes the design of a smart contract, based on the ERC-721 standard, to manage the transfer of property rights linked to digital artworks represented as NFTs. The accompanying legal contract incorporates essential clauses covering the identification of the parties, a description of the artwork and its link to the token, pricing, royalties, and the terms of rights transfer. The proposal seeks to integrate blockchain technology with existing legal frameworks, offering an innovative solution that strengthens legal certainty in the transfer of copyright within digital environments.
This research paper delves into the evolving domain of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within the unique backdrop of India’s art and entertainment industry, a realm where NFTs have garnered global attention as a novel digital asset class enabling the tokenization and ownership of distinct digital content. The paper’s key focus areas are threefold: First, it will scrutinize the legal framework governing NFTs in India, including existing laws, regulations, legal status, copyright, intellectual property, and taxation aspects, offering comparative insights from international NFT regulations. Second, the study will assess the economic implications of NFTs on artists, creators, and collectors, evaluating benefits, challenges, and illustrative case studies, while also delving into NFT market dynamics, trends, and the roles of key players and platforms. Third, it will explore the cultural and artistic implications of NFTs, examining their influence on artistic creation and the preservation of cultural heritage, as well as their impact on the relationship between traditional and digital art forms in India. Furthermore, the research will discuss future prospects and challenges within the Indian NFT landscape, considering potential developments, risks, and uncertainties, and offering recommendations for policymakers, artists, and industry participants. In conclusion, this research aims to illuminate the legal and economic facets of NFTs in India’s art and entertainment industry, fostering a deeper understanding of NFT implications for diverse stakeholders and providing invaluable guidance for navigating this dynamic landscape. This research endeavour aims to illuminate the legal and economic facets of NFTs in India’s art and entertainment industry. By offering a comprehensive analysis of the present state and future prospects, this paper provides valuable insights for stakeholders navigating this evolving NFT landscape. It also contributes to a deeper understanding of NFT implications for India’s cultural and artistic heritage, offering guidance for informed decision-making in this emerging digital era.
Although the digital media ecosystem has changed creation and sharing of content, existing copyright management systems suffer from inefficiencies, such as slow payment of royalties, a lack of transparency about how much an artist is owed, high administrative costs and difficulties in tracking cross-border use. One of the most promising methods for addressing these shortcomings is the use of smart contracts, which are self-executing applications that work off a public distributed ledger called a blockchain to automatically pay royalties at the time of use, based on preconfigured conditions that are based on a predetermined number of streams, downloads or views. Current study explores the technological architecture, relevant legal issues and practical implications for automated payment of royalties to content creators through the use of smart contracts in the context of music services, audiovisual works and digital publishing. The smart contracts allow peer-to-peer transactions without a third party, based on elements of the blockchain, like the principles of decentralized consensus and immutability (integrity). The legal issues related to smart contracts using code as a contract include whether smart contracts will be legally enforceable across different jurisdictions, whether a smart contract's code can be considered enforceable with moral rights, and concentration on complying with different data privacy laws, e.g., the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in countries where blockchain is essentially immutable. While smart contracts can address a number of the core pain points associated with these areas (i.e., transparency gaps, fragmented ownership data, transactional friction), they must overcome various challenges to achieve broad acceptance. These challenges include scalability; the reliability of oracles for off-chain data; interoperability across disparate blockchains; regulatory uncertainty related to anti-money laundering/know-your-customer regulations, and taxation; and a lack of statutory recognition of smart contracts, standardized metadata for ownership rights, on/off-chain hybrid models, and international harmonization via treaties.
إن التقدم التقني المعاصر، وما أحدثه من تقدمٍ في شتى المجالات غير خافٍ على أحد حيث تبع هذا التقدم الكثير من الابتكارات التقنية التي انتشرت بسرعةٍ رهيبةٍ، ومن هذه الابتكارات ما يُعْرف بالرموز الرقمية غير القابلة للاستبدال التي هي عبارة عن أصولٍ رقميةٍ تستخدم لإثبات الملكية الخاصة بالمحتويات الرقمية كمقاطع الفيديو والتغريدات والصور وغيرها، وتمتاز هذه الرموز بكونها غير قابلةٍ للاستبدال، فلا يمكن استبدال رمزٍ منها بآخر نظرًا لندرتها، كما تتمتع بالشفافية والأمان؛ لاعتمادها على تقنية البلوك تشين مما يمنحها قدرًا كبيرًا من الثقة، وقد تناولتُ في هذه البحث التعريف بالرموز الرقمية غير القابلة للاستبدال، وخصائصها، ومجالات استخدامها، ثم تحدثت عن التكييف الفقهي لهذه الرموز، من حيث كونها حقاً معنوياً، والأثر المترتب على هذا التكييف من حيث اعتبارها مالاً، أو عدم اعتبارها مالاً، ومن ثم حكم بيعها بصفةٍ عامةٍ، وبيعها إذا كان البيع بغرض استعمالها استعمالاً محرمًا، أو تكييفها باعتبارها وثيقةً لإثبات الملكية الرقمية، والأثر المترتب على هذا التكييف، ثم ذيلت البحث بخاتمةٍ بينتُ أهم النتائج والتوصيات التي توصلت إليها. The contemporary technological advancements and their impact on various fields are undeniable. This progress has been accompanied by numerous technological innovations that have spread rapidly. Among these innovations are non-fungible digital tokens, which are digital assets used to prove ownership of digital content such as videos, tweets, images, and more. These tokens are characterized by their non-fungibility; one token cannot be replaced by another due to their scarcity. They also possess transparency and security. Because it relies on blockchain technology, which grants it a high degree of trust, this research addresses the definition of non-fungible digital tokens, their characteristics, and their applications. It then discusses the jurisprudential classification of these tokens, considering them as intangible rights and the implications of this classification in terms of whether they are considered property or not. Consequently, it examines the ruling on their sale in general, and specifically the ruling on selling them for the purpose of using them in a prohibited manner. It also addresses their classification as a document for proving digital ownership and the implications of this classification. Finally, the research concludes with a summary of the most important findings and recommendations.
The digital art and collectibles industries are undergoing a significant transformation due to a phenomenon known as Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs). Enabled by smart contracts on a blockchain, NFTs thus provide creators with unparalleled control. They can be used to indicate the ownership of any unique object by serving as a deed for that item, whether it exists in the physical or digital world. This research aims to shed light on various obstacles to the widespread adoption of NFTs. A semi-structured interview was conducted with customers of NFT marketplaces to draw out valuable insights across diverse scenarios. The interview method has been utilized to observe and assess the perspectives of individuals who have engaged in marketplace transactions. Furthermore, a cognitive walkthrough was executed to evaluate the marketplace’s usability from a newcomer’s viewpoint. The insights gathered from the interviews and cognitive evaluation have pinpointed significant pain points and opportunities for improvement. The findings show that both experienced users and newcomers are seeking enhancements to the marketplaces before they are willing to embrace this technology on a larger scale. Their recommendations vary from ensuring safer ecosystem development to improving user interfaces. We present a review of our findings from multiple angles, addressing areas where challenges are evident and we suggest potential modifications to boost the promotion of NFTs. In conclusion, based on our results, we recommend an ideal design along with several essential strategies akin to other standard applications that could be implemented in the markets for greater acceptance.
Purpose: This paper examines blockchain technologies as instruments to strengthen archival management by providing verifiable authenticity, tamper evidence, and resilient traceability for digital records. It situates blockchain within Oman Vision 2040 and evaluates how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be piloted and integrated with existing archival infrastructures. Method/Approach: A qualitative case-study approach synthesizes three evidence streams: international pilot project reports such as ARCHANGEL, peer-reviewed literature and technical white papers (2017–2024), and semi-structured expert interviews and institutional readiness analyses from Oman. Thematic analysis examined three domains: integrity & authenticity, transparency & access, and institutional readiness & governance. Results: Blockchain provides a cryptographic chain-of-custody and tamper-evident anchoring model for archival objects by writing content fingerprints to distributed ledgers while storing content off-chain. International pilots show feasibility; however, challenges include governance design, legal recognition, interoperability, cost, and capacity building. Conclusion: Blockchain is a promising augmentation to archival toolkits but is not a substitute for core preservation practices. Recommendations include staged pilots in Oman, a hybrid architecture, standardized hashing and metadata practices, training, and regional consortia for governance and cost distribution.
The growth of digital music streaming platforms has changed the way music is distributed and accessed across the world. These platforms make music easily available to listeners the royalty distribution process still faces several challenges. Limited transparency, delayed payments, and the involvement of multiple intermediaries often reduce efficiency and affect the earnings received by artists. This work shows a blockchain-based framework for music royalty distribution. The given system combines Ethereum smart contracts, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) to support secure ownership management and automated royalty payments. Smart contracts execute royalty transactions based on predefined conditions, while NFTs represent ownership of digital music files. IPFS is used for decentralized storage to maintain secure and tamper resistant media files. By reducing dependency on central authorities, the framework makes royalty transactions easier to track and supports fair revenue distribution for artists. The obtained results show fast royalty processing and improved revenue sharing compared with old royalty management systems [18].
The anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions poses substantial obstacles to protecting consumer rights, particularly by hindering tracking and dispute resolution, thereby making it challenging to safeguard consumers. This article examines India's legal framework for protecting consumers engaging in cryptocurrency transactions. It highlights the multifaceted challenges consumers face, including fraud, hacking, phishing, and market manipulation, primarily due to the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions and the inherent lack of robust regulation. Comparing India's approach with that of the US, EU, and Japan, it identifies noticeable gaps in current regulations and subsequently proposes specific, actionable recommendations for improvement. The article emphasises the imperative need for consumer education and awareness, as well as for international cooperation among policymakers, industry stakeholders, and regulators to create a safer, more secure cryptocurrency environment. By analyzing consumer protection laws in depth and proposing amendments, it aims to balance transaction security effectively with investor protection, ultimately promoting a more reliable cryptocurrency ecosystem in India while also suggesting practical implementation strategies for regulators and fostering transparency in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to enhance overall market integrity. It further outlines specific policy frameworks that can be adopted to mitigate risks associated with anonymity, alongside actionable steps for enhancing dispute-resolution mechanisms and ensuring continual compliance with evolving global standards in digital asset regulation. KEYWORDS:- cryptocurrency transactions, consumer rights, legal framework, consumer education, transaction security
<p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">The latest technology Non-Fungible Token (NFT) supports ownership of objects on the internet; everyone wants to reap the maximum of this opportunity. The price of the NFT shot up overnight, creating a market with trading volumes of millions worth, but there seem to be issues related to the legitimacy of this technology. Some countries define the legality of NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency-based smart contracts, but they are just a handful of them; there requires the assessment of standards in NFT for full-fledged expansion throughout the world. The majority of the problems are related to the security of the users, price volatility of NFTs, and copyright issues. In this research, the evaluation is achieved by applying methods to identify the standards present in the current NFT ecosystem. The methods acquire quantitative and qualitative information to analyze it by designing models based on Correlation and Total Connectedness Index formulas to give the perspective of the inter relation between NFTs and other financial assets and deeply examine the technology's compliance with the regulations like KYC requirements and copyright registrations. The research uses numerical and non-numerical data from various sources, which are familiar with the crypto community. The results manifest the standards of NFTs, stabilization measures to the NFT market, and it guides investors, developers, and entrepreneurs. May be there is a prerequisite for the design change, viewpoint for alternative replacements for establishing smart contracts between the parties engaged in NFT ventures. Contemplating the level of centralization required on NFTs for protection of the stakeholders in the financial market.</p>
The main objective of this paper is to outline the psychological aspects of trading in the music NFT (non-fungible tokens) ecosystem, with special emphasis on the psychological background of buying NFTs. Since the most important feature of NFTs is the acquisition of ownership enabled by technological solutions, we assume that each purchase of a token does not only imply an economic exchange of ownership, but also the activation of psychological ownership. Having in mind that psychological ownership is a relative category that depends, among other factors, on the nature of the target to which it is attached, our investigation is conceptual rather than empirical. By connecting the already identified cores of psychological ownership to the characteristics of some of the most prominent music NFT drops, we aim to theoretically define general dimensions of psychological ownership through which emotional and social connections to music NFTs as objects of ownership emerge. We conclude that the NFT market reinforces psychological ownership by providing consumers valuable outcomes. In terms of music NFTs, the concept of psychological ownership can be explained by several intertwined dimensions that create emotional and social connections and motivate users to purchase these digital goods. These include a sense of unique possession, identity and self-expression, a sense of belonging to a community, and investment opportunities. The NFT drops discussed illustrate how leveraging different aspects of psychological ownership can transform a music release into a special experience that reshapes the relationship between fans and musicians. Examining fans’ purchases of music NFTs from a psychological perspective can help musicians better understand blockchain users’ behaviour towards music, which is essential for developing NFTs into a sustainable digital format for music revenue.
Traditional property law was built on the physics of tangibility-land, bricks, and physical goods. The defining characteristic of a property right has long been exclusivity: if I possess an object, you cannot. However, the rise of digital assets, from cloud-hosted data and software licenses to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual real estate, has fundamentally challenged this paradigm. This paper examines the friction between classical property doctrines and digital assets, arguing that modern legal frameworks must shift from an absolute ownership model to a nuanced "bundle of rights" approach to prevent corporate overreach while protecting consumer interests.
A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a digital token without equivalence, so unlike a digital currency, NFT cannot be used as a tool of exchange. Instead, NFT represents an object and certifies the scarcity of the object, verifies the owner of the object, and provides the owner with a specific means to move the object as a digital asset. Objects which are represented by NFTs can consist of artistic works, signs, and other visual objects on the internet. So, NFT objects can also be the object of Copyrights’ artistic works or unique aspects of Geographical Indications and Cultural Heritage. The problem is, guaranteeing the scarcity of NFT’s objects is not exactly the same with guaranteeing the originality of Copyrights’ works nor the true origin of Geographical Indications and Cultural Heritage’s objects. There are phenomena where the unique appearances of Champagne wine’s bottle and India’s cultural heritage have been minted as NFTs by individuals other than the collective right holders and being sold at high prices. In this regard, using case study, juridical analytic and legal comparison methods, this article analyzes the potential problems of the intersection between NFT with Geographical Indications and Cultural Heritage and how the problems could be solved in the further amendments of the related laws.
Classical political economy treats private property as foundational to economic coordination and individual autonomy. This paper argues that while private property remains formally intact, it has been substantively hollowed out by the erosion of privacy in the information age. The central claim is that private information—defined as the owner's privileged epistemic access to knowledge relevant to her assets—is a necessary condition for meaningful private property. When such information is no longer privately controlled, ownership persists only as legal fiction rather than effective sovereignty. Through analysis of software licensing, smart property, and decentralized finance, the paper shows how contemporary property increasingly functions as conditional, reversible, access-based arrangements dependent on informational infrastructures governed by others. Revisiting Hayek's epistemological defense of property, the analysis demonstrates that the loss of informational privacy undermines the assumptions that allowed private property to sustain an extended order. The paper engages with objections from information economics and cryptographic privacy, examines systemic risks to economic stability, innovation, and political order, and concludes that the defining challenge of our time is not the abolition of private property, but the disappearance of the private itself.
In the digital era, consumers increasingly encounter an illusion of ownership when purchasing copyrighted works such as video games, digital music albums, or e-books. Under dominant licensing models exacerbated by cloud computing and subscription services users acquire mere access rights rather than true property interests, rendering their acquisitions vulnerable to platform shutdowns, account terminations, or service discontinuations. This phenomenon marks the “vanishing ownership” of digital content, eroding the traditional balance struck by the First Sale Doctrine in U.S. copyright law and the Exhaustion Principle in EU law. This article examines the failure of these doctrines to adapt to digital distribution, as evidenced by landmark cases. It further explores emerging challenges and opportunities posed by cloud-based services and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which promise transferable digital ownership but raise unresolved questions about copyright exhaustion, resale rights, and potential disruptions to rightholders’ licensing revenues. Through comparative legal analysis and doctrinal critique, this study argues for reconstructing the First Sale Doctrine and digital exhaustion to restore consumer property rights. It proposes hybrid legislative and technological solutions, including limited exhaustion for permanently downloaded works, mandatory resale mechanisms, and blockchain-enabled forward-and-delete protocols.
Dec 23, 2025·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Tejas Kotha, Kushagra Bhatnagar, Leona Chandra Kruse, Matti Rossi
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) promised the interaction of artists/creators directly with their collectors without the need for any intermediaries, but the realisation was quick that such a technology, instead of getting rid of intermediaries, reintroduced new intermediaries in the form of NFT marketplaces. These marketplaces exhibit diverse features and cater to different user groups. A wide array of governance strategies, such as curation and gatekeeping, are used to steer creativity and interactions in the marketplace, informed by the marketplace's strategy. We examined this diversity by identifying the 'ideal types' of marketplaces based on these strategies alongside the motivations of the creators to make sense of the growing NFT market and constructed a typology that distinguishes four kinds of NFT marketplaces: Avant-garde, Canonical, Mass Culture, and Coterie. The article also offers practical implications for creators and collectors looking to make informed choices when deciding to participate in a particular marketplace.