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The Windsor Framework, a new Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland trade relations

Publication date: March 01, 2023

This week, on February 27th 2023, the European Commission and the Government of United Kingdom had reached an agreement. The Windsor Framework, as it is named, is a new way forward for the Protocol on Ireland and Norther Ireland and is aimed to protect the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, including its subsequent implementation agreements and arrangements, in all its dimensions and in all its strands.

This new way forward rests primarily on new data sharing agreements, arrangements on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise, State aid / subsidy control, as well as specific instruments designed to ensure that the voices of the people of Northern Ireland are better heard on specific issues particularly relevant to the communities there. This new way forward differentiates between goods that are at risk of moving to the EU Single Market, and goods that are destined for final consumption in Northern Ireland. Building upon this distinction, the new way forward sets up two ways for goods to move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. From this perspective, goods at risk of entering the EU Single Market will remain subject to full EU customs and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) procedures.

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OpenSea, Rarible or Foundation? Legal differences of NFT platforms. Where to trade?

Publication date: March 01, 2023

As the popularity of NFT continues to grow, more and more people are buying and selling these unique digital assets on various platforms. However, as with any online transaction, there are important privacy considerations to keep in mind. It is important that NFT buyers and sellers understand how their personal information is collected, used and shared by the platforms they use.

The registration process on the platforms may vary and require additional verification by the registrant. The Foundation, for example, requires sellers to verify their account before they can sell NFTs, while OpenSea and Rarible do not have a verification process.

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European Commission v. Apple: Antitrust litigation over App Store rules for music streaming providers

Publication date: March 01, 2023

On 28th February 2023, the European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Apple about its concern on the contractual restrictions that Apple imposed on app developers on music streaming providers. Specifically, on the contractual restrictions which prevent them from informing iPhone and iPad users of alternative music subscription options at lower prices outside of the app and to effectively choose those. The Commission thinks that this performance violates EU’s law because Apple’s anti-steering obligations are unfair trading conditions in breach of Article 102 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

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Legal nature of NFTs

Publication date: March 01, 2023

NFTs is not only related to intellectual property law. Of course, intellectual property law plays an important role in this aspect, but NFTs can refer to other areas of law, which are mainly national laws. Examples of such areas of law include: contract law, property law, tax law and in some cases also banking law and finally also the aforementioned intellectual property law.

At the beginning, there should be asked the question of what legally NFT is or what rights the possession of NFT provides. Everything in principle depends on the smart contract and other contractual frameworks related to NFT. From the technical side, NFT consists primarily of a number (tokenID) and an alphanumeric code (smart contract address code) that is somehow associated with a digital file or physical asset. The buyer of such a token first acquires the right to hold NFT in his wallet and to sell the token. In addition to the above-mentioned rights, the buyer may also acquire ownership rights to the underlying assets, an exclusive license or a limited license relating to the underlying assets. In view of the above, it can be concluded that the nature of NFT is non-uniform.

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NFTs and registered trademarks

Publication date: February 28, 2023

What is Non-Fungible token

Non-fungible token (hereinafter referred to as NFT), it is a unit of data stored in a distributed data register, known as a block chain (blockchain), thanks to which a digital asset is unique and therefore non-tradable. A blockchain NFT file does not itself contain an actual digital artwork, video clip, or music. It should be thought of more as a contract that can be represented like this: “Mr. B owns file Y”. Therefore, NFT can be used successfully as a personal digital event ticket. The story of NFT was born with the publication by Yoni Assia article on “Coloured Coins” (Coloured Coins), which consist of small denomination bitcoins used to represent various assets, i.e. real estate, shares, subscriptions or works of art. It can include both tangible and intangible real estate. The main difference between NFT and cryptocurrencies is that while cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are fungible, NFT is as a principle immutable. The primary purpose of NFT is to provide an authentic record of an asset. It can therefore be concluded that free access to such a token may generate little or no value. This theory, however, was disproved by Jack Dorsey, who generated over $2.9 billion after posting his first ever tweet. Therefore, there is some risk associated with NFT, as further development of the token may contribute to the idea of copyright originality being considered useless.

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