Part One: What’s “the Metaverse”?
Part Two: What are the Sources of Law in the Metaverse?
- Government Regulation
- EU
- Asian countries
- Subject matter: privacy, child protection, artificial intelligence
- Courts in the physical world
- Examples of cases–mostly intellectual property
- Hermes v. Rothchild (Birkin bag)
- Nike v. StokkX (NFTs)
- Metaverse Creators
- Make “laws” unilaterally through Terms of Service
Part Three: Deep dive into the Terms of Service of Metaverses
- Ownership Rights
- Intellectual Property Rights
- Limits of Liability
- Dispute Resolution
- Indemnity
- Taxes
- Content Moderation
- Amending Terms of Service
Part Four: Where is the Law of the Metaverse Heading?
- Countries create conflicting laws
- International treaties and conventions to establish uniformity
- Meta Magna Carta—Statement of Universal Rights.
1 CLE Credit Hour:
AZ, CA, FL, HI, IL, MD, MA, MI, NY, OH, SD, TX, UT, DC
Pending:
AL, CO, GA, ID, NJ, NC, PA, VA
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James Murphy
Mr. Murphy is the Founder/Chairman of Ludlow Street Advisors, LLC. Ludlow Street is a strategic advisory firm that provides advice to innovative companies leveraging blockchain technology, with a particular emphasis on digital assets, cryptocurrency mining, metaverse, gaming and Web3 projects. Mr. Murphy is a thought leader, advisor, and frequent speaker on blockchain technology and regulation of the digital assets space. Prior to founding Ludlow Street Advisors, Mr. Murphy served as the founding Chairman of the Murphy & McGonigle law firm. From 2010 to 2021, Mr. Murphy led the firm’s expansion into offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. As a partner in the firm, Mr. Murphy served as lead trial counsel to public companies (primarily Wall Street investment banks, commercial banks and securities broker/dealers) in high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. Under his leadership, the Murphy & McGonigle firm was twice recognized as the “Law Firm of the Year” in Securities Regulation by US News/Best Lawyers in America. Starting in 2017, Mr. Murphy shifted the focus of his law practice to advising innovative companies leveraging blockchain technology, particularly in the digital assets space. Mr. Murphy was recognized as the 2022 Securities Regulation “Lawyer of the Year” in the Richmond, Virginia market by US News/Best Lawyers in America. He is also listed in Virginia Super Lawyers and Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite.” Mr. Murphy has been awarded Martindale Hubbell’s highest rating, AV Preeminent (5.0/5.0).