INTERVIEW
Cutting edge technology means cutting edge IP problems
Dinusha Mendis, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at Bournemouth University, explores copyright and IP developments caused by the digital revolution. Here she discusses NFTs, AI and 3D printing. Dinusha is the opening keynote speaker at the CILIP and Naomi Korn Associates’ Copyright Conference on 18 May. Book your place at
www.cilip.org.uk/copyrightconf22
EXPLAINING what NFT stands for (Non-fungible token) what an NFT is (a digital file recorded on the block- chain) and what they are for (trading rare or limited edition items ) still leaves most people perplexed about what an NFT really is, and why anyone would want to own one. But thinking about why NFTs exist might help. “In the past the reproduction of music and video games was to make them cheaper. That’s what the internet was about,” Dinusha Mendis says, “Lots for cheap, or free. Easy to copy, easy to access. But NFTs and the content which they are linked to, are expen- sive and unique. It’s the whole opposite of what we have been dealing with all these years. In that sense it has changed the con- cept of ownership fundamentally.” If Dinusha is right, NFTs wouldn’t be working if they didn’t cause ownership problems where there had never been own- ership problems before.
It’s also a good example of the territory that Dinusha works in, as she explains: “The impact of new and emerging technologies relating to copyright and broadly on intel- lectual property – that’s always been my re- search interest. Way back, I was interested in Second Life and then ebooks and so on. And more recently it’s been blockchain, NFTs
22 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Mackinlay (@cilip_reporter2,
rob.mackinlay@
cilip.org.uk) is Senior Reporter, Information Professional.
and 3D Printing, and of course AI – which everyone is currently exploring.”
NFTs
“Everything has become digitised and everything can be reproduced. Whole aspects of rights and ownership have been undermined,” Dinusha says. The first NFT was sold for $4 at a con- ference in New York – a digital video file recorded on the blockchain. And gener- ally, that is what they still are, digital files that can be stored anywhere, but linked to the blockchain where all transactions
March 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
