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ARTICLE · 18 SEPTEMBER 2023

Protecting The Bitcoin File Format

Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP
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A decision of the UK Court of Appeal has found that copyright likely subsists in the Bitcoin File Format and provides a detailed summary of the concept of fixation in copyright law.

GlobalIntellectual Property
John McKeown
John McKeown
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A decision of the UK Court of Appeal has found that copyright likely subsists in the Bitcoin File Format and provides a detailed summary of the concept of fixation in copyright law. Wright v. BTC Core [2023] EWCA Civ 868 (20 July 2023)

The Facts

The plaintiff, Dr Craig Wright, (the Plaintiff) claims to be the creator of the Bitcoin system, the person who wrote the original Bitcoin source code and the author of a document entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, which describes the Bitcoin system and is known as "the White Paper". He claims he made the White Paper available to the public on October 31, 2008, under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Plaintiff claims he owns the copyrights in two original literary works: (a) the Bitcoin File Format; and (b) the White Paper. The Plaintiff objects to the creation of two new systems which have effectively created blockchain systems that run in parallel to the Bitcoin system, without his consent. The

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