NFTs and Art: A Legal Analysis of Property and Copyright Laws

On 25 November 2021, Professors Kelvin Low and David Tan teamed up for a webinar to discuss the copyright and property issues surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and art. Attended by almost 100 participants comprising legal practitioners, museum curators, policymakers and students, the 90-minute session focused on how NFTs are created, what they represent, and what a buyer of objects in the metaverse actually acquires.

The webinar was jointly organised by the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business and the Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & the Law (TRAIL).

About the speakers

Professor Kelvin F.K. Low read law at the National University of Singapore and Oxford University and started his academic career at the National University of Singapore. Prior to rejoining his alma mater, he taught at the University of Hong Kong, Singapore Management University, and City University of Hong Kong. Kelvin’s research interests span the field of private law but with a particular interest in property. He has published internationally with leading journals such as Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, American Journal of Comparative Law, Melbourne University Law Review, Lloyd’s Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly and Legal Studies. He is co-author of The Law of Personal Property (2nd & 3rd eds), the leading personal property text in the Commonwealth, and co-author of Tan Sook Yee’s Principles of Singapore Land Law (3rd & 4th eds), the leading Singapore land law text.

Professor David Tan was Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) at NUS Law from January 2015 to June 2021. He is presently Head (Intellectual Property) at the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business and Deputy Director of TRAIL. He holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School (2010), a LLM from Harvard (1999), and graduated with a LLB (First Class Honours)/BCom from the University of Melbourne (1995). David was formerly with the Singapore Administrative Service, serving as Director of Sports at MCYS and Director of International Talent at MOM. His areas of research cover personality rights, copyright, trademarks, freedom of expression, constitutional law and tort law, and his articles have been cited on a number of occasions by the Singapore Court of Appeal and High Court. David has published over 70 articles, comments, book chapters and review essays since joining NUS Law in 2008, including a monograph by Cambridge University Press.