Metaverses may be a hub for illegal distribution of copyrighted work – UK researchers

Researchers in the United Kingdom have studied the viability of current intellectual property (IP) laws and their application to emerging technologies such as Metaverse. In the study, the researchers identified the shortcomings of the existing laws and presented their recommendations.

In the year On March 7, the UK government published an outsourced research report titled “IP and the Metaverse.” The report delves into the existing literature on IP laws and how they might apply to Metavas. In the study, the researchers concluded that there are metaverse-specific IP issues, such as managing IP in a practical context and managing technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) in virtual worlds.

According to the report, many legal challenges come with communication, including unauthorized distribution of copyrighted work. The researchers point out that lack of interaction is important in preventing people from illegally distributing copyrighted material. As interoperability is a key feature in the metaverse, the researchers believe that this can be a challenge to control the use and distribution of copyrighted work.

Meanwhile, blockchain features such as immutability or “sham-proof” also pose a challenge to enforcing IP laws. The researchers wrote:

“Blockchain's inherent resistance to change or modification undermines the ability to dynamically manage or update IP rights. This is a particularly pressing issue in the context of ownership disputes, as well as when licensors or rights holders wish to withdraw from the Metaverse to explore breaking agreements and rights.

However, the potential management use of IP poses some expected challenges. The researchers argue that algorithmic handling of violations is “highly susceptible to abuse” because it lacks human oversight to ensure the legitimacy of execution.

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Apart from this, AI-generated content poses another challenge for IP enforcement in Metadata. According to the study, reliance on AI tools has the potential to invalidate patent claims in content. The study highlighted examples and cases showing that “only partially AI-assisted works” can be protected by IP laws.

Because of the expected issues in IP management in the metaverse, the researchers concluded that clarity is needed on “a number of key issues.” This includes legal issues related to copyrights, trademarks, patents, designs, user-generated content, virtual property and metaverse (NFTs). For this reason, the researchers believed that it is important to develop IP approaches to solve management and enforcement problems.

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