NFTs

Zimring offers a breakdown of the deficits of digital-art NFTs as both a commercial finance lawyer and digital artist.

In these pages, the author provides a critique of non-fungible tokens and a detailed account of the issues that surround them. After a comprehensive definition of the terms blockchain and NFT, the author introduces the problem of how digital-art forgeries complicate the provenance of an artwork and raise the question of legal ownership. Zimring then points out, with reference to the Copyright Act and legal precedents, that digital art is copyrightable and internationally recognized as a form of property. The author’s recommendation to creators of digital art to register their works with the Copyright Office—regardless of whether the works are attached to an NFT—is an important takeaway for both creators and purchasers of digital artwork. The third chapter offers a brief history of visual art, explores the broad parameters defining digital artworks (including those that use artificial intelligence in the creation process), and provides visual examples. This is followed by an overview of digital artworks as assets to be traded and collected. The book also addresses the dependence of NFTs on cryptocurrencies and the question of royalties. Finally, the author predicts that regulation of NFTs is likely on the horizon. This book’s legalese, dense prose, and meticulous analyses, especially in the context of the “metaverse,” can be quite challenging, particularly in the first two chapters. Zimring rightly anticipates that the audience of this critique is likely limited to readers “who want to focus on the present day legal problems of NFTs,…want to focus on NFT investing, collecting, or using them in their business, and/or…want to educate themselves further” regarding digital-art NFTs. That said, newcomers to the concepts will welcome the inclusion of multiple explanatory charts to elucidate the more complex concepts as well as the copious art examples provided throughout the text.

A dense but informative survey of the problems of NFTs and potential solutions.