NFTs: The New Kid On Hong Kong's Digital Block

Intellectual property is one of the most dynamic and fluid practice areas in the legal profession and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the rapidly growing and highly lucrative world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

With the NFT global market now generating billions of US dollars, these new forms of digital asset have gone mainstream and, particularly, mark a fresh development in the way artists can promote and sell their works. But legal professionals are grappling with issues surrounding this new phenomenon and copyright law.

What are NFTs?

First, we need to understand what is fungible and what isn't. Items that are fungible can be substituted or exchanged for similar ones. For example, a HK$20 banknote can be exchanged for any other HK$20 note (or, indeed, two HK$10 notes) because they have identical value. Ditto company shares or commodities.