Welcome to our monthly NFT litigation roundup.
As the rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) continues to soar, so too do the questions, legal issues and disputes around them.
When faced with such a high growth phenomenon, the law can take time to catch up. Boodle Hatfield is closely monitoring the developments and each month will bring you a roundup of the key NFT disputes to be aware of.
United Kingdom
HMRC seize NFTs for the first time
HMRC has seized crypto assets and three NFTs as part of an investigation into a suspected £1.4m VAT fraud.
Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Economic Crime at HMRC has said: "Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use cryptoassets to hide money from HMRC…We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets."
The investigation is ongoing.
Art Wars
London-based artist and curator Ben Moore launched Art Wars at the Saatchi Gallery in 2013, with life sized Stormtrooper helmets custom painted by artists. Moore has now moved to selling NFTs of the helmets, allegedly without the permission of the artists.
After receiving a copyright infringement notice, OpenSea has taken down the Art Wars NFT page.
DACs has told Artnet News that "As the art market evolves with new and emerging technology such as NFTs, we must ensure that we protect both the creative, intellectual, and moral rights of artists. The minting of NFTs without artists’ permission has the potential to destroy how we as a society value creativity and within this, guarantee that artists are protected through existing intellectual property laws and mechanisms such as the Artist’s Resale Right.”
Owners of the Art Wars NFTs are looking for clarification on the next steps, and the project has been moved to an alternative platform, Looksrare.
Boodle Hatfield has a specialist art law team offering expert know-how and pragmatic legal advice. Responding to the boom of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, we have created a digital assets group, pooling our expertise to ensure we can navigate the legal issues that arise with such assets for our clients. The group brings together specialists from around the firm, who can advise on everything from corporate structuring and intellectual property through to tax, financial claims in divorce and estate planning.
Click here to read more of our expert insights.
