Digital Innovations in the Legal Mechanism of Copyright Authentication (Practical Aspect ): Can A Non-Functioning Token Be a Guarantor of Intellectual Property? (NFT on the Example of Ukraine)

Digital Innovations in the Legal Mechanism of Copyright Authentication (Practical Aspect ): Can A Non-Functioning Token Be a Guarantor of Intellectual Property? (NFT on the Example of Ukraine)

Digital objects, owing to their capacity for cost-free replication and widespread utilization, have witnessed a gradual erosion of value. This phenomenon has underscored the pressing need to address intrinsic quandaries within the digital landscape, particularly those pertaining to ownership and remuneration. In this regard, the emergence of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) technology has assumed a pivotal role as a catalyst for ameliorating these longstanding issues.
This study endeavors to scrutinize the legal attributes inherent in NFT agreements within the context of their utilitarian potential in the resolution of disputes concerning the ownership of assets duly certified by these tokens through smart contracts. As an illustrative case study, the investigation posits an examination of the tokenization of postage stamp rights, assessing its legal viability with reference to the legislative initiative put forth by Ukraine in 2022.
It is imperative to underscore that the acquisition of an asset, such as a work of art, through an NFT transaction does not ipso facto entail the transfer of copyright or other specialized entitlements to the NFT holder, unless such a transfer is explicitly and comprehensively formalized within the bounds of a smart contract. The fundamental nature of rights associated with NFT objects remains a matter of contention. In this discourse, it is judicious to uphold the conventional understanding of property rights as a means of adjudicating disputes involving NFTs. This approach enables us to infer the relative legality of NFT transactions within the framework of consensual property rights transfer, and, under specific conditions, within the realm of casual transfers, while categorically precluding their permissibility under an abstract property rights framework.
In essence, an NFT, within the narrow parameters defined by the involved parties, functions as a cryptographic certificate or patent validating the authenticity of a specific digital object, instantiated in the form of an NFT. This certificate possesses the legal potential to serve as probative evidence of ownership in a legal proceeding. Notably, Ukraine's legislative initiative in 2022 seeks to codify the concept of a ''digital postage stamp'' as a digital facsimile of a postage stamp image, designed to ascertain its rightful possessor. This initiative holds the potential to set a legal precedent for the utilization of NFT technology at the governmental level in the determination of ownership within the virtual domain.