How do I know which commercial use rights for the IP of my NFT I have, if any?
Select jurisdiction
Germany
You need to check the license terms of the NFT project. At the date of this text
(September 2022), most NFT projects do not have the license terms on chain but on
the project website. Unfortunately, none of the relevant NFT trading platforms indicate
the use rights either. Therefore, really, the only way is to “google it” (which may lead to
fake websites, therefore this is really not an ideal option and on-chain solutions of
immutable license terms would be much preferred).
Denmark
This will be to find in the T&C of the NFT collection in question – and if there is no T&C, e.g. it is a
single NFT not being a part of an NFT collection, it would be wise to enter a written or oral
agreement with the seller in question regarding the IP rights.
France
If no specific agreement was signed between the purchaser and the seller, the
purchaser may have a look at the Terms & Conditions of the NFT platform or the
project’s page (if any). Maybe in the future, the smart contract will be able to contain
dispositions related to the IP rights, or at least a link to a page that contains such
clauses.
As a principle under French law, if nothing is provided in this respect, the owner of the
NFT will not be granted any intellectual property rights on the underlying artwork,
including any commercial uses rights.
Kenya
Derek Hawkins
Brazil
It is necessary to understand if there is any license or assignment linked to the token, which may be on the mint page, whitepaper, regulations, terms of use, digital contracts linked via metadata, description in marketplaces, or any other document for that purpose. If there is no provision in this regard, there are no commercial use rights in the work.
