Expert Briefing: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age

Overview

This briefing explores the intersection of law and technology through the Metaverse, focusing on intellectual property (IP) challenges in virtual environments. Participants will examine how emerging Metaverse technologies - including NFTs, AI, and user-generated content - interact with existing legal frameworks, creating new complexities in ownership, enforcement, and digital rights management. We will examine how some of the fundamental characteristics of the Metaverse, such as interoperability and (de)centralization and the extent to and manner in which they are implemented, may interact with existing systems, influencing how rights are established, transferred, and protected. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the evolving legal landscape and the practical implications of IP in virtual worlds.

Learning objectives

• Critically assess how emerging technologies such as NFTs, AI, and user-generated content interact with existing IP frameworks, leading to novel legal complexities in ownership, enforcement, and digital rights management.
• Examine how these core characteristics of the Metaverse challenge established IP principles of exclusivity, territoriality, and centralized enforcement, and assess their implications for legal practice.
• Explore how traditional legal doctrines apply to the Metaverse, including issues related to IP infringement and enforcement in decentralized and cross-jurisdictional contexts.

  
Course topics:

1. Defining the Metaverse and Its Key Characteristics: This topic explores the various definitions of the Metaverse, its evolution, and the identification of common features that have significant implications for IP.

2. Mapping Existing and Persisting Issues: This section will establish that the IP issues in the Metaverse largely mirror those that emerged with the rise of the Internet and digital technologies, including challenges around jurisdiction, enforcement, and infringement, and how we can learn from approaches and solutions adopted over the last few decades. It will cover:

• A. Copyright-protected works, patented inventions, protected trade marks, and protected designs in the Metaverse (IP).
•  Issues that span across various areas of IP law and intersect with other legal domains like contract and personal property law, focusing on key issues such as user-generated content, digital assets, license agreements, and platform liability.
    

3. Metaverse-specific Issues: This topic addresses the unique IP challenges specific to the Metaverse and examines how the interplay between the key characteristics such as (de)centralization, interoperability, and convergence of physical and digital creates novel complications for IP ownership, licensing, and infringement in the Metaverse.

4. Strategies for Addressing IP Challenges: Participants will analyze various approaches and best practices for managing and mitigating IP issues in the Metaverse, including existing legal mechanisms, potential policy reforms, and commercial strategies.

5. Looking Ahead: The briefing will end on an exploration of the future of IP law as it adapts to the rapidly evolving Metaverse and related technologies. Attendees will examine emerging trends, such as the role of AI in content creation, and how IP laws may need to evolve to address new forms of digital property, virtual assets, and cross-platform interoperability.

Format

This is a hybrid training session, being offered in person at the BIICL office in Russell Square, London and virtually via Zoom.

Who is the session for?

The interactive session is designed for legal practitioners, technology developers and providers, digital rights stakeholders, regulators and IP practitioners.

Tutors

Dr Michaela MacDonald is Lecturer in Law and Technology on the Joint Programme with BUPT, where she teaches across a range of interdisciplinary modules at the intersection of law, business, and technology. Her research investigates the complex legal challenges emerging around immersive technologies, user-generated content, digital assets, and identity in virtual environments. 

The research sits at the cutting edge of law, technology, and digital culture, with a particular focus on interactive entertainment. As co-editor-in-chief of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review and co-editor of the forthcoming Research Handbook on Interactive Entertainment Law, she contributes to shaping global discourse on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing video games and immersive media. Her work includes high-impact contributions to policy initiatives, such as the UKIPO's Metaverse Report and a WIPO study on copyright infringement in the games industry.

Dr Gaetano Dimita is a Reader in Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, where he focuses his research and teaching on Games and Interactive Entertainment Law. 

He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review Edward Elgar, the producer of the More Than Just a Game conference series; the co-author of Mastering the Game 2nd edition, WIPO, and a video games enthusiast. Gaetano serves as Board Member of the National Video Game Museum; and as Executive Committee Member of BLACA (British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association), the UK national group of ALAI (Association Litteraire et Artistique Internationale). 

He is also a member of the British Copyright Council - Copyright and Technology Working Group; the UK IPO Copyright Advisory Council; the UK Department for International Trade's Intellectual Property Expert Trade Advisory Group (IP ETGA); the Italian Bar Association (Rome), the Video Game Bar Association; the Fair Play Alliance and the Higher Education Video Game Association.  

Training scholarships

We are delighted to be able to offer scholarships designed to enable individuals from communities currently under-represented in the legal field to access our world-class courses and benefit from unparalleled learning experiences.

Scholarships are aimed at 3 categories: individuals from communities and backgrounds that are under-represented in the legal field in the UK and abroad; individuals who have recently received a needs-based bursary from their university or further-education college and representatives from Small Charities, NGOs, and Community-Based Organisations.

Applications for training scholarships must be received at least two weeks ahead of the course start date (7 November 2025). Applications must be made via the online form and applications received via any other means will not be considered.

Find out more and apply for a scholarship here 

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