Considering an NFT Venture?

There are serious regulatory repercussions for violation of any contest or sweepstakes laws. Given the risks, it is essential that NFT minters who wish to operate NFT contests retain attorneys who have experience in the laws applicable to both NFTs and contest promotions to assist them.

NFT license agreements protect original creators’ intellectual property rights and financial interests in their NFTs even after other people buy such NFTs. Licensing agreements set out exactly which rights original owners and buyers hold in purchased NFTs. NFT license agreements are coded into the NFTs’ respective blockchains (otherwise known as “smart contracts”), which certify the authenticity of the NFTs and autonomously execute NFT license terms during any and all resale of the NFTs. Given this vital role and the fixed nature of smart contracts, it is of paramount importance that NFT minters ensure that their NFT licenses include all terms as they want them and key legal protections.

NFT minting agreements contain the contractual provisions that govern the commercial relationship between the NFT minters and the parties whose images/works will be portrayed in the subject NFTs. The parties, among many other terms, must determine liability, who will create the “smart contracts,” the blockchain to launch the NFTs on, intellectual property rights to the underlying artwork, and the parties’ share of the NFTs royalty percentage, if any. With the right contracts in place, you could be left with an NFT business that has a lucrative upside, with very little risk.

The underlying artwork is intellectual property and separate from the NFT itself. To protect the underlying artwork featured in your NFTs, you should retain qualified legal counsel to register your copyrights and/or trademarks/brands.