MEXICO Trends and Developments Contributed by: Victor Adames and Paola Becerril, Becerril, Coca & Becerril
not prevent others from creating a new NFT that could use again the same embedded material. What is pre - vented is the creation of the same token, specifically the encrypted code it represents, but not the replica - tion of the underlying digitised information, which may be used again in the minting of another NFT. It is important to mention that NFTs once sold, do not transfer the copyright of the underlying literary or artistic work embedded in the same, unless there is an express agreement to that end from the author of the copyrighted work. Although NFTs can provide traceability and transpar - ency with respect to the ownership of the token itself, this does not imply that they prove ownership or the legal authenticity of the digital work they represent. However, copyright owners may consider NFTs to be an additional means of distribution – or technical verification in digital environments – of their works; nonetheless, NFTs neither grant a legal “backup” over the work nor create additional copyrights in any way. What happens if an author has both a certificate of registration of their work and an NFT of such work? Copyrights are automatically granted to authors at the moment of the creation of the work. Authors may use Copyright Offices to obtain a certificate of inscription of this work, which is not mandatory, but constitutes enhanced and useful evidence of their ownership in the event of litigation or a transfer of rights. If an author records their work before the Copyright Office and obtains a certificate of inscription, and they subse - quently mint an NFT based on that work, the certifi - cate of inscription would be the document reflecting the ownership of the author, whereas the NFT would function merely as a reproduction of a digital form of a work and as a technological instrument of commer - cialisation of this digital asset. A legal framework in Mexico for NFT regulation? There is no Mexican legislation that specifically reg - ulates NFTs; however, the FCL applies when these tokens are associated with works created by Mexican authors.
For example, it is worth noting that Mexico defines copyright as the recognition of the creation of liter - ary or artistic works, through which the author can benefit from exclusive privileges, such as moral and economic rights. Authors hold both moral and economic rights. Moral rights are intrinsically linked to the personality of the author and cannot be assigned, waived, renounced or extinguished. Economic rights, on the other hand, allow the author to exploit the work for financial gain and include the rights of distribution, reproduction, public communication and transformation. The length of copyright protection is that of the life - time of the author plus 100 years thereafter. The minting of an NFT, being the act of digitising a work into a token for its later inclusion into a block - chain, will be closely scrutinised where it affects the reproduction rights of copyright owners, who must authorise such minting through a licence. According to Mexican legislation, if these economic rights are transferred, the following rules must be observed: • The transfer must be temporary and onerous (ie, for consideration). • Any licensing or assignment of copyrights must be in written form, otherwise they will be considered null. • Licensing or assignment of copyrights must pro - vide for the author or economic rights-holder a proportional participation over the income of the exploitation or a specific level of remuneration. This right is inalienable and thus a mandatory provision of the law. • Any licensing or assignment of copyrights must be recorded before the Mexican Copyright Office to be effective against third parties. • Any transfer or licensing of copyrights will be assumed to be for a term of five years if no refer - ence to the timeframe is mentioned by the par - ties within the transfer or licensing agreement. A transfer or assignment of the economic rights for a much longer period longer (more than 15 years)
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