U.S. intellectual property authorities have noted that current laws are sufficient to address infringement concerns related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and that there is no need to change existing intellectual property laws.
The United States Copyright Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have published a joint study on NFTs on Tuesday, concluding that while changes to intellectual property laws are not necessary or advisable at this time, public education initiatives should be in place to ensure greater awareness.
“NFT technology is currently evolving rapidly, and new laws specific to NFT issues would likely be premature,” the study said.
“NFTs provide unique opportunities for creators to exploit their intellectual property rights, but also present new challenges in ensuring the security of their work,” said Kathi Vidal, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, in a press release. statement.
In the report, the bureaus noted that although NFT technology is new, the copyright issues it raises generally are not.
“To the extent that an NFT contains or refers to an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work, the creation or marketing of that NFT will involve copyright law to the same extent as any unauthorized reproduction or display,” the report added.
The two offices conducted the NFT study in response to a June 2022 request from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.
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