Nexus between NFTs and Intellectual Property Law

NFTs have emerged as the "go-to" method for proving ownership of a variety of rare goods, including digital artefacts and artwork. Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, sold his first tweet, "just setting up my twittr," as an NFT for more than $2.9 million. Eminem bought a "Bored Ape Yacht Club" NFT for $452k, making it his own NFT acquisition. A very fundamental but crucial question then arises: What is an NFT? Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are assets that have been tokenised via a blockchain. They are given particular identifying numbers and metadata that set them apart from other tokens. Depending on how much the market and their owners are willing to pay for them, NFTs can be traded and exchanged for fiat currency, cryptocurrencies, or other NFTs. Owners of NFTs may include organisations with consumer-facing trademarks and logos, writers of books and screenplays, musicians, game developers, and even individuals who create actual works of art. There is a substantial possibility that these owners' rights will be violated because they are likely to share their assets with others, which they can use to create an NFT. NFTs do not, however, always come with IP rights. “There is a clear difference between owning an NFT and owning the underlying intellectual property or other assets included within the NFT; owning an NFT is merely a showcase on the shelf”. In this study, we will explore the concept of non-Fungible tokens along with their relationship with various intellectual property rights in India as well as around the globe. An attempt has been made to analyse the Intellectual property issues concerned with NFTs and to provide recommendations for the same.