Despite the current prevalence of NFTs, it is often unclear what
legal rights they convey to the new owner upon resale. Owners of
copyright and trademark assets underlying NFTs may claim legitimate
rights that conflict with those that NFT owners believe they
possess. Below we examine legal questions related to NFTs and
intellectual property (IP) rights, exclusivity, and other issues in
light of recent lawsuits. We will also examine the impact of
unsettled legal questions on the development of the metaverse and
other next-generation technologies.
Rights of Copyright Holders to Mint NFTs of Their Works
Recently, New York-based art gallery Tamarind LLC received a cease and desist letter after announcing its
plan to issue a series of NFTs based on a 60-foot-long mural known
as Lightning or The Guernica of India. Artist
Maqbool Fida Husain's estate claims in the letter that it
maintains the copyright to the mural, which Tamarind purchased from
the late artist for
