Intellectual Property Rights and Entrepreneurship in the NFT Ecosystem: Legal Frameworks, Business Models, and Innovation Opportunities

TL;DR

This paper explores the legal and business challenges of intellectual property rights in the rapidly growing NFT ecosystem, proposing new frameworks and analyzing real-world legal and market issues.

Contribution

It introduces a novel IP rights matrix and a business model taxonomy to clarify legal and commercial aspects of NFTs, addressing gaps in current understanding.

Findings

Legal enforcement varies across regions.

Standardization of licenses is lacking.

Many NFT business models face IP risks.

Abstract

Non Fungible Tokens have changed digital ownership and how creators earn money. Between 2021 and 2024, the market value exceeded 40 billion. However, the fast growth of the NFT ecosystem has revealed serious issues in managing intellectual property rights. There is a lot of confusion about the difference between owning an NFT and owning the copyright for the underlying content. This research looks at the gap between traditional copyright laws and blockchain-based transactions. We use a mixed methods approach to analyze this disconnect. We create a new IP rights matrix that clearly shows how copyright law relates to NFT ownership structures. Additionally, we include a business model taxonomy that sorts new commercial applications by their IP risk and sustainability factors. By examining important legal cases, smart contracts, and interviews with stakeholders, we find key problems in enforcing laws across different regions, standardizing licenses, and assessing business opportunities.