Partner Doneld Shelkey and associate Benjamin Klaber wrote an article for Pittsburgh Technology Council discussing the metaverse, its practical uses, and implications tied to issues such as intellectual property rights.
“It’s important to remember that the laws of the land still apply in the metaverse, but most laws (and contracts) don’t contemplate the concept of unique and valuable digital assets,” they wrote, noting the likelihood that previously granted rights do not specifically address new types of digital assets, e.g., a non-fungible token for a piece of jewelry and potential issues involving authorship.
“Thinking of the metaverse as a collection of tools designed to leverage unique and valuable digital assets opens the door to a host of legal issues that simply did not exist a few years ago.”