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copyright-metaverse-1161454459-300x277We’ve written extensively on the still somewhat recent arrival of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as both a potential revenue stream, caveat-filled investment destination and pop culture marker of the moment. Back in 2018, we wrote about the Los Angeles Dodgers giving away digital bobbleheads to fans, who could redeem a private hidden key to send the bobblehead to a personal cryptocurrency wallet or sell the unique serialized bobblehead to another fan. Later, we wrote about NFTs in the art world, from a burned Banksy to the record-setting sale of Beeple’s Everydays – The First 5000 Days, which sold for $69.3 million (including fees). Increasingly, the practical uses of NFTs are being examined in places beyond entertainment and IP portfolios, including the real estate market. Recently, Spanish airline Air Europa even sold the first NFT plane ticket, called a “NFTicket,” for just over $1 million.

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NewsofNote-300x250In today’s News of Note, we explore ransomware-as-a-service profits, the continued untangling of IP issues with NFTs, the prospect of scented virtual reality experiences, the development of a humanoid robot, and much more.

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GettyImages-89528859-e1649697177155-300x198Every year professional sports franchises introduce new marketing tactics and sponsorship models to increase their revenue streams—new gear, new placements for logos in stadiums/arenas and on jerseys, not to mention an array of online engagement opportunities. As the concept of the Metaverse becomes more established in the minds of fans, there is, not surprisingly, a good deal of buzz about this futuristic environment. But even as professional sports franchises announce their own forays into the Metaverse, organizations around the world would do well to consider how this bifurcation of the sporting experience (viewing the venue in person vs. in the Metaverse) creates a whole new world of marketing revenue streams.

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Multicloud-1318623693-300x169Modern cloud computing only came into existence about 20 years ago, but now virtually all enterprises (99%) are using cloud services. Cloud adoption accelerated further in the last two years because of the COVID pandemic as a result of an increase in remote work, the evolution of online business strategies (e.g., e-commerce), and the focus on business resilience. In addition, given budget uncertainties, moving technology tools, data and storage to the cloud usually results in significant cost savings to an organization, which is the top priority for organizations using cloud services six years in a row.

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GettyImages-1041512634-e1647042895170-300x173Anyone who has ever been involved in a real estate purchase knows how complicated the process can be. Determining where and what one wishes to purchase, deciding how best to finance the transaction, even knowing exactly why buying something makes sense in the first place—there can be a lot to juggle before one even encounters the complexity of forms, contracts and payment mediums. While going through the process of purchasing real estate in real life, I became curious about purchasing real estate in the metaverse. What exactly would I be purchasing? What can I do on my new virtual real estate? How can I prevent trespassers? Eager to find out (and assuming it would only cost a few hundred bucks), I set out to buy some real estate in the metaverse.

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Is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine altering the landscape of the internet? Can AI help historians decipher ancient texts? How did two siblings allegedly use a digital token to defraud investors? Explore this and more in today’s News of Note.

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision vacating the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., was a win for authors who, during the copyright application process, unwittingly submit inaccurate information to the U.S. Copyright Office (e.g., because they did not understand the law, and/or were not assisted by competent copyright counsel). Nonetheless, in The Cost of Honest Mistakes: Even After Unicolors, Copyright Application Errors May Still Have Consequences, our colleagues Sam Eichner and Lori Panosyan explain why the decision does not do away with the risks associated with honest mistakes in U.S. Copyright Office filings (and why authors should take care to mitigate such risks).

 

 

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This week’s News of Notes includes a controversial use of facial recognition technology, stories highlighting AI’s role in both energy production and consumption, the continued use of ransomware and bots for criminal purposes, and more.

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As is the case with many types of cybersecurity threats, shielding one’s company from ransomware attacks calls for measures that simultaneously build the strongest protections possible while also adopting mitigation strategies that assume those measures will fail.

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SEC-logo-300x300On February 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had entered into a settlement with BlockFi Lending LLC, a subsidiary of BlockFi Inc., (collectively BlockFi) over first-of-its-kind charges that BlockFi had failed to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product, BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIAs), and that BlockFi had violated the registration provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The charges and resulting settlement not only provide a path forward for BlockFi, but also provide clearer guidance to all players in the retail crypto market and especially those involved with crypto lending platforms.

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