Blockchain Papers

Laura Maes

No abstract is available for this record.

João Marinotti

Property law has traditionally relied on tangible boundaries to delineate legal thinghood and to inform the bounds of in rem rights and duties. Unfortunately, property doctrines have fossilized around tangibility, causing fragmentation in the legal treatment of digital assets. In the United States, for example, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may simultaneously be classified as commodities, securities, currencies, assets, or not property at all, depending on the jurisdiction, domain, or specific asset in question. This fragmented system of overlapping legal treatments increases the information cost of using digital assets, decreases efficiency, and ultimately hinders future innovation.\nIn this Article, I propose a unified and tech-neutral approach to legal thinghood, providing a theoretically coherent and robust way to increase property law’s resilience in adapting to future technologies. Specifically, I deconstruct the conceptual purpose of tangibility in traditional doctrines of legal thinghood, uncovering its role as a technology (i.e., a tool) in property law to delineate rights. From this insight, I derive a coherent doctrinal test for distinguishing between digital assets that fulfill all conceptual requisites to be legal things and assets that do not. By doing so, I conclude that the traditional ontological categories of property law, such as choses in possession, are sufficiently robust to incorporate new and evolving digital assets. This tech-neutral approach paves the way toward an elegant and efficient legal treatment of digital assets and digital resource management in the twenty-first century.

charles adjovu, Ewa Fabian

Licensing is one of the essential means of exploiting the monetary value of a musical work, and yet it is an area fraught with many issues and transactional costs which make it a difficult process for individuals and organizations. Many issues in music licensing arise from the legal complexity (e.g., national and international copyright law), business complexity (authentication, tracking, accounting, etc.), value web complexity (transparency of relationships among stakeholders), and technical complexity (e.g., establishing a global repertoire database for music, sufficient metadata standards) of working with music. Then, in addition to these issues, there are specific transactional costs (identification, negotiation, monitoring, and enforcement) associated with the licensing process. To mitigate the complexity and transactional costs associated with music and the licensing process, researchers and technologists have been investigating how new technologies and design models from the Web3 space, such as blockchain, linked data and Ricardian Contracts, can automate processes to reduce complexity, speed up payments, improve tracking, and provide other benefits in the music industry. In our report, we make our own attempt to reduce the complexity and transactional costs in the licensing process by developing an automated music license. In doing so, we first conducted a literature review scoping the intersection of music complexity and Web3 technologies to provide background and context to automating music licensing. Then we developed the Practical Tokenized Drafting (PTD) method, a set of core principles and practices for drafting Ricardian Contracts that interact with Web3 technologies (RC-Web3 Templates), and the Tokenized Music License (TML), an RC-Web3 Template standard form for music licensing on the OpenLaw platform. Both the PTD and TML can be adapted to meet the needs of music industry stakeholders and provide guidance to legal practitioners in drafting RC-Web3 Templates.

Zain Halloush, Qussai Yaseen

The number of applications that blockchain era suggests are vastly growing each day in almost all industries. One of the most dialectical research areas using blockchain concepts is the aspects of intellectual property and copy rights. In this paper, we propose a novel framework of a hybrid model which combines consortium blockchain and private blockchain properties coupled with the definition of attribute-based access control to produce a suggested benchmark in preserving intellectual property law and practice. This hybrid-based model can help in solving many problems detected in Intellectual Property management using blockchain, such as provenance and authenticity.

Carla Fabela Reyes, Nelson Maria Rosário, Rachel Cannon, Richard Tall

The most disruptive technology to emerge in the past decade, blockchain technology has had an immediate impact on the legal industry to address the new issues that blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technologies present. This panel provides an overview of blockchain technology, including current and potential applications, and discusses how blockchain intersects with various sectors of the law. The panelists define this new technology, identify potential legal challenges ahead, and explain how new and seasoned attorneys can engage in this emerging area.

Gerald Spindler

Digitalization changes all kind of sectors of the economy—in particular, financial industry, which is probably one of the first to undergo fundamental changes. As money and financial transactions are immaterial, it is evident that financial industry has been one of the first economic sectors to be digitalized. Digitalization of the financial industry started already at the beginning of the 1980s, when large banking networks were introduced across the globe. With the rise of the Internet, online banking and all kinds of Internet-based services that allow a direct contact with clients and real-time transactions were established. The next step is now ahead, based upon the new technology of blockchain and on the use of artificial intelligence. It is obvious that the so-called fintech are already challenging the traditional financial industry; however, the notion of fintech remains opaque and is used to describe different phenomena. From the international private law perspective, it is of particular interest how traditional paradigms, such as location of a transaction (loci actus), can change. While contracts concluded by using fintechs will not raise specific choice-of-law problems as the principles of law applicable to contracts would not change, the situation is different for proprietary effects of transactions in securities. Even though securities were immaterialized long before the existence of fintechs or blockchain, the use of decentralized networks based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) raises new problems as to the assessment of the location of the transaction. The article discusses different approaches to solve the location problem, with specific regard of DLT. The issue discussed is embedded in a more general debate about the chances and limits to regulate a decentralized DLT; thus, conflict of laws for securities transactions is just a part of the overall problem. I will show that there are some important parallels to the intellectual property law that have been disregarded in the discussion so far. However, this approach also reveals some flaws, so that it will be the lex fori, in the end, that should govern the proprietary effects of transactions on a decentralized DLT network. Concerning the legal base of analysis, I have to concentrate—unfortunately—upon national law (in this case, German law) as European regulations such as the Rome Regulations do not deal with proprietary effects of securities transactions.

Gabriela Sacha

Taking into account the growing influence of technology across many industries, this paper demonstrates the implications of the use of blockchain by the fashion industry for protecting intellectual property. In the face of a lack of global regulations on the issue, this paper attempts to outline legal considerations of using blockchain in this new context. The analytical research was based on the European Parliament Resolution on Distributed Ledger Technologies and Blockchains as well as the American, Belarusian, Maltese and Gibraltar laws regulating blockchain. An outline of the blockchain technology leads into a description of how the blockchain technology may be beneficial in different sectors of the economy. This paper aims to present ways in which blockchain may influence intellectual property law and how it may be applied in the fashion industry. Additionally, by pointing out the risks associated with blockchain, this paper highlights the need for implementing international regulations regarding this technology.Technologia blockchain i jej znaczenie dla prawa własności intelektualnej w branży modyBiorąc pod uwagę rosnący wpływ technologii w wielu gałęziach przemysłu, autorka niniejszego opracowania przedstawia w nim konsekwencje wykorzystania technologii blockchain łańcucha bloków przez branżę mody w celu ochrony własności intelektualnej. W obliczu braku światowych regulacji w tym zakresie w artykule podjęto próbę nakreślenia prawnych aspektów wykorzystania technologii blockchain. Badania analityczne zostały przeprowadzone na podstawie Rezolucji Parlamentu Europejskiego w sprawie technologii rozproszonego rejestru i łańcuchów bloków oraz amerykańskich, białoruskich, maltańskich i gibraltarskich przepisów regulujących technologię blockchain. Omówienie zarysu działania technologii blockchain prowadzi do wskazania, w jaki sposób technologia ta może być przydatna w różnych sektorach gospodarki. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie, w jaki sposób technologia blockchain może wpływać na prawo własności intelektualnej oraz jak może być stosowana w przemyśle mody. Ponadto, zwracając uwagę na zagrożenia związane z technologią blockchain, w tekście podkroślono potrzebę wprowadzenia międzynarodowych regulacji dotyczących tej technologii.

Jake Goldenfein, Dan Hunter

This Article outlines a blockchain based system to solve the orphan works problem. Orphan works are works still ostensibly protected by copyright for which an author cannot be found. Orphan works represent a significant problem for the efficient dissemination of knowledge, since users cannot license the works, and as a result may choose not to use them. Our proposal uses a blockchain to register attempts to find the authors of orphan works, and otherwise to facilitate use of those works. There are three elements to our proposal. First, we propose a number of mechanisms, included automated systems, to perform a diligent search for a rights holder. Second, we propose a blockchain register where every search for a work’s owner can be recorded. Third, we propose a legal mechanism that delivers works into orphanhood, and affords a right to use those works after a search for a rights holder is deemed diligent. These changes would provide any user of an orphan work with an assurance that they were acting legally as long as they had consulted the register and/or performed a diligent search for the work’s owner. The Article demonstrates a range of complementary legal and technological architectures that, in various formations, can be deployed to address the orphan works problem. We show that these technological systems are useful for enhancement of the public domain more generally, through the existence of a growing registry of gray status works and clarified conditions for their use. The selection and design of any particular implementation is a choice for policy makers and technologists. Rather than specify how that choice should look, the goal here is to demonstrate the utility of the technology and to clarify and promote its role in reforming this vexed area of law.

Miklós Király

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin may turn upside down not only the system of currencies but that of the international trade.One of the most intriguing questions is how a currency, like Bitcoin, intended to be used globally, can be inserted in the soundly elaborated system of the Vienna Convention on International Sales of Goods (CISG).The paper focuses on the following topics: the nature of Bitcoin, exchange rate fluctuation and hardship, and the determination of late payment interest.

Daniel Kraus, Charlotte Boulay

Blockchains are at the source of numerous innovations, be it in the insurance, the financial or the distribution sector, many of which are very promising. However, from the moment innovative technologies appear the issue of the stimulation of their development arises. Most of the time, blockchain-related innovations are developed in an open-source or free software framework. Nevertheless, more and more patents have been filed on blockchain applications. Hence, how are the philosophies driving blockchain communities and intellectual property compatible? Are there any risks that arise from the filing of patents on the developments of blockchain-based technologies and business methods? And finally, are blockhains going to revolutionalize the intellectual property system itself? These are the issues that the present chapter attempts to deal with.

M.H.M. Schellekens

Abstract Blockchains are increasingly being used for content distribution, sometimes as an unwanted side effect of blockchain applications that have other primary purposes, sometimes as intended content distribution. The typical characteristics of a blockchain such as its claimed immutability raise new questions as to what preventive measures can reasonably be demanded from blockchain intermediaries, and managers of nodes in particular. The article asks whether the exemptions introduced in the Directive on e-Commerce can be applied, what mitigating or preventive measures other than Notice-and-Takedown can be applied and how governmental regulators should react.

Thomas Keijser

No abstract is available for this record.

Justin Steffen, Michele Korver, Elaine Wyder-Harshman, Michael Baumert · 5 authors

The most disruptive technology to emerge in the past decade, blockchain technology has had an immediate impact on the legal industry to address the new issues that blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technologies present. This panel discusses current and potential regulatory issues facing blockchain technology, including ICOs and securities regulation, prevention of blockchain use in criminal activities, the uncertain tax landscape, and the unique challenges of regulating a global borderless technology.

Roberto Pardolesi, Antonio Davola

No abstract is available for this record.

Ayzha D. Ricks, Keshav Kasichainula, Weidong Shi

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the regulating authority over the monies that U.S. citizens are allowed to give to political candidates and parties. However, preexisting loopholes in FEC regulation allow for contributions to be made in situations that do not require donors to disclose their identity, a term coined as “dark money”. The increase of dark money in campaign financing and the ability of political spending to influence voter perspectives and decisions puts the credibility of the political finance system at stake. Additionally, with the introduction of blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and smart contracts to political financing these technologies collectively can serve as a new vehicle for bad actors to use. In this paper, the effects of blockchain and smart contracts on political finance are examined through four use cases to demonstrate how these technologies can extend anonymous, foreign interference in political campaign financing and further cripple public trust in it.

Michèle Finck

No abstract is available for this record.

김이수

No abstract is available for this record.

Inge Graef, Damian Clifford, Peggy Valcke

... Recent years have shown a surge of interest from various enforcement agencies to remedy commercial behaviour exploiting the increasing information and power asymmetries between consumers and firms. What is particularly notable about this rise in attention is that enforcement actions demonstrate clear interactions between different legal fields that are traditionally applied and enforced in isolation. The present article will focus in particular on the growing interaction between competition, data protection, and consumer law. The Italian Competition, Communications and Data Protection Authority opened a joint ‘big data’ sector inquiry in May 2017 that not only aims to identify potential competition concerns but also to define ‘a regulatory framework able to foster competition in the markets of the digital economy, to protect privacy and consumers, and to promote pluralism within the digital ecosystem’.1 The Bundeskartellamt (German competition authority) announced its preliminary assessment in the Facebook competition investigation in December 2017, reaching the view that Facebook’s collection and use of data from third-party sources is abusive. According to the Bundeskartellamt, Facebook’s terms of service violate data protection provisions and thereby constitute abuse of dominance under competition law as well.2 On the basis of its new competence in the area of consumer protection,3 the Bundeskartellamt also opened two sector inquiries into online price comparison websites and smart TVs in October and December 2017, respectively. The sector inquiry into comparison websites aims to uncover possible violations of consumer law and to identify possible deficits in the enforcement of consumer rights that so far mainly takes place in individual private court proceedings.4 The sector inquiry into smart TVs investigates how producers of smart TVs handle user data. In particular, the Bundeskartellamt is looking to clarify to what extent smart TV manufacturers collect, use and pass on personal data, and whether individuals are appropriately informed of these practices in the contract terms.5

Gönenç Gürkaynak, İlay Yılmaz, Burak Yeşilaltay, Berk Bengi

No abstract is available for this record.

Radu Stancu

The paper proposes a legal definition of the notions of blockchain and smart contract from the point of view of the intellectual property right.Therefore, this research brings to light the effects of new technology on the positive law and, above all, on the notion of contract.By applying the blockchain technique, the parties optimize costs and significantly reduce the time needed to produce legal effects, particularly by eliminating third parties.However, this technique creates a real series of legal issues that already give jurists the opportunity to develop new theories of law by finding solutions to them.

Birgit Clark, Ruth Burstall

Blockchain technology can be defined as an open ledger of information that is distributed and verified across a peer-to-peer network, rather than through one central server. In other words, it is a computerized public ledger that can apply to almost anything you may usually save to a spreadsheet or database. Each transaction or block is transmitted to all of the participants in the network and must be verified by each participant node solving a complex mathematical problem. Once a block is validated, it cannot be modified without changing it across the whole network. Distributed ledgers are inherently harder to attack because, instead of a single database, there are multiple shared copies of the same database. As no single person, institution or company hosts or controls the information, the storing of the information on the blockchain is perceived as (nearly) unhackable. Different types of data can be added to a blockchain, from transaction information to photos, videos and design documents and the technology is developing further with new types of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), such as hashgraph software, which is meant to address the scalability issues of traditional DLT technology. While the traditional concept of blockchain is an open and anonymous network, there are also ‘private’ blockchains, mostly of interest to the financial and insurance industries, which pre-screen who is allowed to administer the ledger.

George Robert Barker

No abstract is available for this record.

Gregory Bischoping

blockchain-the-invisible-technology-thats-changing-the-wor [https://perma.cc/59QL-QDLJ](providing an introduction to the structure and usage of blockchain technology

V. Tweehuysen

No abstract is available for this record.