How do NFTs work under Turkish Copyright Law?

As we addressed in a previous article, Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) are unique assets that have emergedfollowing the rapid development of digitalization and they have attracted the world’s attention, especially artists.This has given rise to significant legal questions in the field of copyright, as artists and even non-artists turn theirworks into unique, unchangeable NFTs via blockchain technology and sell them through online markets.

We turn now to the question of how this novel creation may be viewed under Turkish law; in particular, what thelegal status would be of artwork that has been converted into NFTs within the scope of Code No. 5846 onIntellectual and Artistic Works (“Code No. 5846”) and the likelihood that those rights would be protected in theevent of a violation, although unique enforcement challenges may arise vis-à-vis anonymity.

While NFTs have existed for a few years, the legal questions are novel in that their use has significantly increasedlately. Another point worth mentioning about the subject is that anything may be turned into an NFT, provided thatits conditions are fulfilled. For example, even things like ideas and works of art, such as tweets, laughs, andmemes could be converted into NFTs and sold. In addition to these, the popularity of NFTs has increased as it hasbecome more common for both traditional artists and digital artists to convert their work into NFTs and sell them.

First of all, it should be noted that every NFT that meets the required conditions under Code No. 5846 gains legalprotection as a work of art, regardless of whether the work is converted into an NFT. There is not much differencebetween selling an artist’s work in a gallery, or turning that work into an NFT and selling it in an online market.Selling the work of art as an NFT may even be more advantageous for the artist. When artists convert their workinto NFTs and sell them, what is transferred with that sale is the property right of that work. If the work’s financialrights have not been transferred by a written agreement, then these rights will remain with the creator of thework.

Within the scope of Code No. 5846, the rights of the owner of the work are classified as financial and moral rights.Financial rights of the owner of the work include processing, reproduction, dissemination, representation, andtransmission of the work to the public utilizing a sign, sound, or image transmission. On the other hand, the right topresent the work to the public at any time and in any manner, the right to information about the content of thework, the right to see the name of the work, the right to prohibit changes in the work, and the right to protect theintegrity of the work, are considered moral rights within the scope of Code No. 5846.

It should be further emphasized that moral rights are strictly attached to the creator of the work; they are notsubject to legal transactions and therefore may not be transferred by any means. Instead, artists are only able togrant the right to use the content. However, financial rights could be subject to an act of disposal that would becontrary to these moral rights.

The legal validity of a transfer or license of the financial rights of a work of art depends upon there being a writtenagreement, according to Code No. 5846. If the creator of a work in the form of an NFT intends to transfer theirfinancial rights while also selling their NFT to someone else, they must clearly state this purpose in writing in orderto validly transfer the financial rights of the work in question. Otherwise, the creator of the NFT remains the ownerof the financial rights of the work, and the person who purchases the NFT cannot benefit from the financial rightsset out in Code No. 5846, they would only possess the property right of that token. Therefore, the creator of a workwho sells it as an NFT is still able to benefit from its financial rights under Code No. 5846, such as bringing an actionfor compensation against an infringer when the rights arising from that work have been violated.

That said, following the principle of freedom of contract and any articles agreed upon by the parties in a salesagreement, the new owner of an NFT may granted the financial rights of the relevant work. Hence, the terms inthe sales and/or licensing agreement will determine the scope of the intellectual property rights over a digitalwork that has been purchased by a buyer. Since NFTs are immutable tokens, they function as an unchangeablemarker and all transactional records such as who created the work as an NFT, who sold the NFT, who purchasedit, or when the NFT was sold are kept in a secure digital environment by blockchain technology, the owner of thework shall be able to claim their rights, easily follow up in case of violation of their copyrights, and take theappropriate legal steps to protect their right; that is, unless the users are anonymous. Unfortunately, the fact thatusers are anonymous is a major disadvantage of this business.

As a result, a product prepared as an NFT or converted into an NFT meets the requirements specified in Code No.5846 to be considered a “work” in accordance with Turkish law and its owner will benefit from copyright protection. For the financial rights of an NFT to transfer from the creator or a subsequent owner to a buyer, a specialagreement beyond the blockchain record must be made, otherwise, the buyer will only have purchased the NFTitself. As long as the transfer of financial rights is valid however, the purchaser of an NFT will be able to benefit from the advantages provided by the financial rights under Turkish law.