blockchain - legal aspects of new technologies

Recent unofficial reports that Estonia is working on a possible initial coin offering for participants in the country’s e-Residency programme have sparked a debate on whether EU law permits a country in the eurozone to offer a cryptocurrency.

Smart contracts are no longer just a theoretical concept and are becoming a real tool used by lawyers (with some help from developers…).

For many people today, a life lived offline can hardly be imagined, but the internet still has many limitations. Access to information and easy communications have become the standard and basis for functioning of the society and the economy—and, it follows, a subject of interest to the law. Nonetheless, we more and more often sense the shortcomings of the current version of the digital world. These include digital exchange of value and universal electronic identification.

Several recent meetings and discussions about the blockchain have made me realise the growing antagonism that exists between the law and the blockchain. This conflict is largely the result of misunderstandings, which need prompt clarification.

Conversation with Monika A. Górska and Lena Marcinoska of the Intellectual Property Practice at Wardyński & Partners about whether the blockchain may be regarded as a new area of use.

Newtech.law: Blockchain based solutions are developing rapidly in various sectors of the economy. Have they also entered the creative sectors?

Monika A. Górska: Definitely. DLT technology may be used successfully to record intellectual property rights and to register transactions involving creative work. Moreover, most computer programs are written today with a blockchain project capability.

Newtech.law: Does the arrival of blockchain-based solutions give rise to any problems with copyright agreements?

Many people assume that the approach for regulating the blockchain should be similar to that for many other new technologies. First, it has to be well understood, before adapting traditional regulations to it. This assumption will not work with the blockchain. A whole new approach is required. It is important to realise this, because otherwise it will lead to a number of misunderstandings.