Tarantino v. Miramax: The Rise of NFTs and Their Copyright Implications
Emily Dieli Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are part of a relatively new industry involving blockchains and cryptocurrencies. As NFTs grow in popularity, questions have arisen over NFT copyright ownership. A federal court will have the opportunity to rule on this issue for the first time in a pending case between Miramax and Quentin Tarantino. The film production company and the well-known director are in dispute over intellectual property ownership of screenplay scenes that Tarantino sold as NFTs. The outcome of the case and future laws will have a direct impact on the way NFTs are purchased and...
Massachusetts Non-Competition Laws: Protecting Trade Secrets or Restricting Commonwealth Innovation?
Gabriella Falcone Non-competition agreements are subject to much debate in the realm of American trade secret law, and this debate is magnified when taken in the context of employment in major technology hubs across the United States. The overwhelming success of Silicon Valley, California technology firms, where non-competition agreements are generally unenforceable, has sparked conversation over whether enforceability in other states is impeding innovation in other major technology hubs. The Massachusetts legislature is attempting to address this issue with two major bills on the enforceability of non-competition agreements in the Commonwealth, which as Massachusetts’ presence in the technology industry continues...
Intellectual Property Indemnity Clauses
Thomas Hemnes, M.S. The practices associated with intellectual property indemnity can be traced in part to Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. At the dawn of the computer age, practitioners searched for legal models that they could use for transactions in intangible rights and products such as computer software. Although computer software did not fit easily into the “sale of goods” paradigm, analogies to the familiar rules governing sales of goods were inevitable. Lurking in the lower reaches of Article 2 of the UCC, one finds an implied warranty of non-infringement in Section 2-312(2): Unless otherwise agreed, a seller...