Guest Work Agency Comments on Legal Issues and Opportunities in the NFT Space
Portrait of Alana Kushnir. Photo: Justin Ridler.
Guest Work Agency founder and director Alana Kushnir has spoken to legal publication Lawyers Weekly about legal issues and opportunities arising from the explosion of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The article, titled NFT market sees ‘innovative’ dealmaking, but also a ‘lack of standardisation and transparency’, also discusses the evolution of Alana’s art law and advisory practice.
Intellectual property and ownership rights in the NFT space
Alana told Lawyers Weekly journalist Jerome Doraisamy that although she’s seen innovative deal-making approaches, she has also come across fundamental legal issues that need addressing, for example, “when you buy an artwork, what do you own? And what rights do you have in relation to that work? The answer is not as black and white as you may think, and never has been”.
These questions around intellectual property ownership and rights are ones that all lawyers should be aware of as NFTs and blockchain technology creep into the mainstream legal profession, Alana told the publication.
NFT terms of use lack standardisation and transparency
Alana also raised the lack of standardisation and transparency about terms of use amongst NFT marketplaces as additional concerns: “some of the most popular platforms either do not have terms of service or, if they do, they don’t make them available to users before they sign up for an account or connect their wallet,” she said.
“And, for those that do have website terms of service, there’s still a lot of inconsistencies in terms of what they cover. These issues make it really difficult for users to understand the risks involved in interacting with a certain platform, as well as minting, buying and selling NFTs.”
Alana surmised that this could give rise to consumer law issues such as misleading and deceptive conduct.
COALA NFT Licensing Task Force combatting NFT legal issues
As a member of the NFT Licensing Task Force organised by COALA Global (Coalition of Automated Legal Applications), Alana is at the forefront of tackling legal issues for NFTs.
“We’re planning to develop semi-public licenses that apply to everyone holding a particular type of NFT,” she told Lawyers Weekly.
“COALA has been doing some really important work in the blockchain space in the past few years, including publishing a DAO Model Law in June of this year, which was referenced as a useful starting point for the regulatory structure of DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations) in the October report of the Senate select committee on Australia as a technology and financial Centre.”
NFTs offer exciting opportunities for art lawyers and advisers
Alana described how her art law practice has evolved with the technological changes that are transforming art marketplaces: “For example, before the NFT hype, I could have been negotiating and advising on collaboration-type agreements between brands and artists (which I still do); however, these days, I’m also negotiating and advising on collaboration-type agreements between blockchain-based platforms and artists,” she said.
“What these technological advancements have also afforded me is the opportunity to provide consulting services beyond traditional legal advice to those interested in getting involved”.
Alana has recently advised Blockchain.art (BCA), the first NFT marketplace designed and built specifically for the needs of the 21st century art world. She worked closely with with BCA Founder Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt and Chief Operations Officer Renger Van Den Heuvel on developing a set of best practice standards to better support galleries, artists and collectors entering the NFT market.
Guest Work Agency is a boutique art law and advisory firm based in Melbourne, but international in reach. It is the first dedicated art law practice in Australia, working with artists, collectors, galleries, arts organisations, art fairs and art tech start-ups.
For more information contact us at info@guestworkagency.art.