Litigation special counsel Rola Daaboul in Austin authored an explainer on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their potential for litigation in an article for the Austin Business Journal. She walks through various scenarios that someone who owns an NFT might encounter, including what happens if one buys an NFT only to discover the NFT seller copied the work of another artist, how the right of publicity plays a role, and the legal risk of destroying an NFT. Daaboul predicts the legal outcome of each of these, but notes that, given the new and unique nature of NFTs, it’s possible some resolutions may depart from previous laws.

“Just as we needed new ‘rules of the road’ when buggies were replaced by Buicks, courts may eye NFTs through a different lens, either because of or despite the differences with protectable works that have come before,” Daaboul said.