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NFTs (non-fungible tokens) hit the scene in 2017 with CryptoKitties, a game on the Ethereum blockchain for buying, selling, and breeding digital cats. Clearly, CryptoKitties represents a humble start for NFTs, the technology that has since captured astonishing public and media attention. More recent NFTs—like the NFT-based digital artwork by Beeple that sold at Christie’s for $69 million last month—demonstrate the rising importance of these novel digital assets.

Each NFT is a one-of-a-kind digital information file typically associated with a digital image, like an artwork, video, gif, tweet, or even event ticket. At least in theory, NFTs can also be created for physical objects, a possibility just beginning to gain meaningful attention.

Where associated with a digital image, the NFT does not generally contain the image but functions like an integrated smart contract with a link to the image file. This smart contract uses blockchain technology to track changes in ownership and affirm authenticity, much like a digital provenance. NFTs also contain a feature that can disseminate royalties whenever the NFT is sold, exemplifying the design flexibility and diverse functionality of these assets.

NFTs are a new form of non-tangible property with substantial implications in the art, entertainment, fashion, and marketing/advertising realms. Individuals and businesses operating in these spaces should carefully consider the merits of NFT platform or portfolio ownership and should anticipate new applications of and perhaps changes to existing bodies of law, like copyright and false advertising, that will address NFT issues.
Continue Reading NFT Risks and Opportunities in the IP, Advertising, and Brand Management Spaces

On November 30, 2020, New York Governor Cuomo signed into law a bill that will allow estates and representatives of deceased individuals to defend their names and likenesses from commercial exploitation, allowing their estates to continue to control and protect their likeness after their death. The new law, which establishes a “Right to Publicity” for deceased individuals who were domiciled in New York at their time of death, allows these individuals to that have commercial value, including their name, picture, voice, or signature, against unauthorized use.

In connection with the new post-mortem right to publicity, Governor Cuomo stated, “In the digital age, deceased individuals can often fall victim to bad actors that seek to capitalize on their death and profit off of their likeness after they pass away – that ends today. This legislation is an important step in protecting the rights of deceased individuals while creating a safer, fairer New York for decades to come.” The new post-mortem right of publicity applies up to 40 years after the death of the deceased personality, and it provides certain exceptions, such as for works of art or political interest, parodies and satires, and the use of names and likenesses in the news.

In enacting this law, New York joins the minority of U.S. states which recognize a post-mortem right of publicity, an area of law that has long been controversial and which has resulted in extensive discussion of choice-of-law rules.
Continue Reading ‘Imagine’ This: John Lennon Would Have Received Post-Mortem Right to Publicity in New York

The Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a trademark-infringement matter on April 23, 2020, holding that willfulness is not a necessary precondition to an award of profits. The unanimous ruling in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc. ends years of uncertainty among the lower courts as to whether willfulness is a prerequisite to awarding…

On Tuesday, March 24, the Prime Minister of Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games will be postponed for one year. In a statement, IOC officials said the Games would be “rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of…

Gavel 2

On May 4, 2016, Crowell & Moring LLP will host a complimentary seminar on Advertising for Associations in their Washington, DC office. This afternoon program will focus on key issues affecting advertising communications and public relations strategies of major trade associations. It brings together leading trade association executives and lawyers, public relations specialists, and ad…

Danielle Air Jordans

Michael Jordan has settled two high-profile right of publicity lawsuits with two now-defunct grocery chains – Jewel Food Stores and Dominick’s Finer Foods.  In August, a jury awarded Jordan $8.9 million after a federal judge determined that Dominick’s violated Jordan’s rights under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act.  Jewel and Jordan were scheduled to start…

Danielle Kim K Image

On Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to Duchesnay, manufacturer of DICLEGIS, a morning sickness drug, based on a social media post by ubiquitous social media user, Kim Kardashian. Kardashian posted a picture of herself with the drug while touting its safety and efficacy. However, Kardashian failed to mention…