NFTs

Morning Docket: 04.24.23

* Law schools defiantly bucked U.S. News and World Report. Now they face the inevitable consequences of their own actions. [NY Times] * Elon Musk's management of Twitter just keeps getting worse. [Bloomberg Law News] * NFT insider trading case begins. [Reuters] * Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy amid sagging Beyond sales. [Law360] * Associate latering down 66 percent. [American Lawyer] * Fox's Dominion settlement likely to only cost the company about three-fourths of the total. So they've got that going for them! [Huffington Post] * Cop who killed Breonna Taylor has a new law enforcement job because in many offices that behavior is a feature not a bug. [Forbes]

A Bag Worth Fighting For: The MetaBirkin NFT Trademark Dispute

Above the Law's new fashion law columnist examines the Hermès-Rothschild case.

The IRS Is Seeking Public Comment On Whether They Should Tax NFTs Like Works Of Art

It is unclear why the IRS is making this announcement.

NFT IP Risks Get Real In MetaBirkins Case

In short, Rothschild has no problem painting Hermes as a hypocritical trademark bully, so obsessive about protecting its bottom line that the company was willing to make an example of someone making an artistic statement using an iconic luxury item as a reference point.

Making Sense Of The Hermès v. Rothschild Metabirkins Verdict

We asked experts for an explainer even the Web3-illiterate will understand.

The Metaverse: What Is It? How Does It Affect Law Firms?

A new set of legal issues and advertising opportunities.

With Trump’s NFT Trading Cards Grift, The Hypercommercialization Of Christmas Is Complete

People are waiting to pass these NFTs off to even bigger suckers at a huge profit on the secondary market.

Criminal Prosecutions Of Cryptocurrency And NFT Scammers Could Increase So That Victims Can Take Advantage Of Enhanced Tax Benefits

Even if there is no indictment, crypto and NFT fraud victims can still take a theft loss if they invested the money with the intent of making a profit.

Biglaw Firm Offers NFTs To Lawyers Completing Its Metaverse Course In Experiment To Shove As Many Buzzwords In A Title

Herbert Smith Freehills is going all in on emerging tech.

What Do You Need To Know When It Comes To NFTs And The Law?

As NFTs become more popular, it's important to understand the legal issues surrounding them.

5 Surprising Insights From The US Treasury Department’s Study Of The Global Art NFT Trade

The study doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the darker sides of the market.

The Government Makes The First Arrests On NFT Scams

We will likely see a lot more of these arrests and prosecutions in the future.

Caveat ENFTor

But let’s be clear, just because someone buys an NFT, that almost always also means that they don’t own the underlying copyrighted work that their hash points to on the internet.

Morning Docket: 03.18.22

* In memoriam: A son remembers a legal giant. [The Pulse] * Gagging the 1st: 11th Circuit considers the constitutionality of a law that imposes heightened penalties on a class of protesters. [CBS 12] * The police are called on Yale students who protested a Federalist Society lecturer. What happened to fighting speech with speech? [New York Post] * Texas is locking up folks without filing charges or giving them lawyers. No way this is legal. [The Texas Tribune] * Turns out Pepe does not go to the moon: 500k lawsuit follows after an NFT buyers faces the power of ctrl + v. [Notebook Check]

Robots Rising: Should Machines Be Granted Copyrights?

Thus far, the Copyright Office has found no reason to depart from the long-standing approach of awarding copyright registrations only to humans.