MEXICO Trends and Developments Contributed by: Victor Adames and Paola Becerril, Becerril, Coca & Becerril
can be agreed when the nature of the work or the impact of the investment justifies this. For the above, to avoid copyright infringement through unlawful use, a person purchasing an NFT must, in addition to acquiring the token associated with the work, verify who holds the economic rights to the underlying work and secure either a copyright assign - ment agreement or a licence for the economic rights. In sum, while NFTs do not constitute copyrights, hold - ing the corresponding licence or assignment of the economic rights of the work referenced by the NFT will provide evidence of the lawful use and author - ised exploitation of the work, enforceable in both the physical and online context. NFTs represent a pow - erful technological mechanism for the tokenisation, traceability and commercialisation of digital assets; however, they do not, in themselves, create or confer copyright protection. Under Mexican law, copyright protection continues to rest exclusively on the crea - tion of a literary or artistic work and vests automatical - ly in its author, regardless of whether the work is later minted as an NFT. The ownership of an NFT therefore reflects control over a unique blockchain token, not ownership of the underlying copyrighted work, unless an express and legally valid assignment or licensing of economic rights has been granted.
In the absence of a specific legal framework regulating NFTs in Mexico, the FCL remains the primary source of protection and enforcement when NFTs are linked to copyrighted content. The minting, distribution and commercialisation of NFTs involving protected works must comply with existing copyright rules, particu - larly those governing reproduction and exploitation rights. As a result, authors and rights-holders should view NFTs as complementary tools for distribution and authentication, rather than substitutes for copyright protection. Ultimately, legal certainty in the NFT ecosystem depends not on technology alone, but on the care - ful alignment of blockchain practices with copyright law. Clear contractual arrangements, proper licens - ing and awareness of authors’ inalienable rights are essential to prevent infringement and to ensure that the commercial exploitation of NFTs is both lawful and enforceable in Mexico’s legal landscape.
365 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook