Our Virtual Selves: IP Implications Of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has been on the rise in the past years and is a growing and dynamic area of technological advancement and development. In 2020, through necessity, many of us have found ourselves conducting various aspects of our lives, everything from business meetings to birthday parties, through virtual platforms.

In the mainstream, we have seen avatars, being animated, virtual representations, or icons, of ourselves, used on social media to broaden the ways in which we can interact and express ourselves on these platforms. Avatars and virtual reality present various interesting legal issues, including a range of intellectual property ("IP") implications. Film makers, animators, video game makers and others, need to bear IP issues in mind to avoid their virtual conduct spilling over into real life legal disputes.