Event

The Changing Law on Ownership in Digital Assets: A Consultation

Click here to book your tickets for this online event.

The Law Commission for England and Wales has published a consultation paper that proposes a major reform of the law of property, making it fit for a digitised world. Under the proposal, a new type of “ownable thing” is created to ensure that the law recognises and protects digital assets (including crypto-tokens and NFTs). Your books on Kindle, your NFTs your bitcoin – things you think you own, but what does the law say about them? The proposal is an important step to bring our perception of digital ownership in line with the law.

 

What might this mean for digital assets, from cryptocurrency to digital photography, film, NFT created artworks…? Some businesses and platforms may find overnight they are now “owners” of a whole range of assets – is this only a blessing, or do they come with obligations too? Will business models need to adjust to make the most of these new rights? Does it create new opportunities to monetise your work or use it as a collateral for loans? Could it create also obstacles for your supply chain if some of your “raw material” is now owned by someone else? What are the impact on insolvency, divorce or death of the owner of digital assets?

 

Please join us on Friday 28st of October online (Zoom), to explore how this could affect you and your work? The seminar will introduce the proposal and explain its main implications. But we also want to give you a voice in the consultation process. What legal safeguards would help YOU? Does it not go far enough, or too far? In the discussion part of the seminar, we will also give you an opportunity to feed your views back into the consultation.

 

If you cannot attend the meeting, but would like to feedback your views through us into the consultation process, you can also email b.schafer@ed.ac.uk


Zoom