Episode 71 An IP Lawyer on NFTs and AI

Episode 71: An IP Lawyer on NFTs and AI

Episode 71

An IP Lawyer on NFTs and AI

Jessica Neer McDonald is the head of global trademark services at Midjourney. We cover the basics of copyright law, the tricky questions posed by NFTs and AI, and the precedents set by three major NFT lawsuits.

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(00:01:44) - (First question) - How her transition from the traditional world to the digital one has shifted her thinking on IP and protections

 

(00:03:21) - Overview of the MetaBirkins lawsuit during the peak of the NFT surge 

(00:06:14) - The Tom Sachs rockets and where the legal line is drawn for them versus MetaBirkins

(00:09:01) - Differences between copyright and trademark law

(00:09:37) - How using logos is fair use and not teetering on a lawsuit like Tom Sachs’ rockets

(00:13:21) - Overview on the Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps trademark dispute 

(00:17:03) - Analyzing the nature of the court case and the precedent it set 

(00:20:45) - Whether or not it’d be possible to sue someone for making a brand out of your Bored Ape or a similar NFT

(00:23:47) - The pros and cons of the different licensing options a project could choose

(00:28:41) - Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog being memed and when he could take legal action

(00:30:27) - The seventy years after death protection and IP becoming public domain

(00:32:38) - Defense, patents, and being on to something when Nike tries to sue you 

(00:36:00) - Being the head of global trademark services for MidJourney and Tarantino’s dream project that never took off

(00:40:41) - AI generated art and the complex legal models behind them

(00:43:28) - What she’s excited to see unfold over the next six months and six years

An IP Lawyer on NFTs and AI

Introduction

Eric
This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jessica Neer McDonald, an attorney focused on intellectual property rights and the Head of Global Trademark Services at Midjourney. The rise of NFTs an AI-generated artwork has opened up all sorts of interesting questions about IP and ownership.

Jess is my go-to knowledge base for this topic. In this episode, Jess takes us through the nuances of IP law and how it might apply in Web3. We discuss major NFT lawsuits like Yuga Labs, Hermès and Nike and the precedent they set in this transition from physical to digital property rights. Finally, we talk about AI art and its opportunities and unique challenges. Please enjoy my conversation with Jessica Neer.

Eric
Jess, I think that when I talk to people about Web3 and NFTs, smart contracts, especially two years ago, you'd be in a conversation inevitably someone is a lawyer, for some reason, many people in my life are lawyers and they will start asking questions about precedent. So you have this picture of a Bored Ape. Do you actually own it? What could you do with it? And I've always been fascinated in this idea of intellectual property in general, but specifically with Web3, NFTs and smart contracts.

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