메타버스 내 NFT를 둘러싼 지식재산권 쟁점에 대한 검토

The Study on IPR Issues Surrounding Uses of NFTs in Metaverse

As the establishment of a new digital economy and industrial ecosystem in the virtual world due to the combination of metaverse and NFT is drawing great attention, uses of NFTs on various metaverse platforms such as games and entertainment are increasing. In particular, as the metaverse era, in which the real world and the virtual world are combined and interacted through realistic technology, is in full swing, interest in NFT, which acts as a digital asset in the metaverse, is expected to increase. NFT is necessary to support the economic system in the virtual world and accordingly, and accordingly legal issues surrounding uses of NFTs in metaverse are also emerging. In particular, it is difficult to track the identity of the seller or buyer of NFT that can be used on the metaverse due to the nature of the blockchain that presupposes anonymity. In addition, the current intellectual property system alone has limitations in protecting intellectual property rights related to various contents created and NFTized on the metaverse. As various intellectual property issues surrounding created and used in Metaverse are being raised, a comprehensive review is needed, such as revising related laws considering the technical characteristics of metaverse, establishing clear interpretation standards in policy support and service provision. In this regards, this article addresses major IPR issues surrounding uses of NFTs in metaverse, focusing on the scope of the protection of contents NFTized and used in metaverse and infringement of IP rights in the metaverse.