Following claims of theft, the High Court of the United Kingdom declared two digital works from the Boss Beauties NFT collection to be “property,” the first time that NFTs have been recognised as real estate in the United Kingdom.
Two digital works from the Boss Beauties NFT collection were allegedly taken from the online wallet of Women in Blockchain Talks founder Lavinia Osbourne back in March. Women in the sector know that the NFT initiative “creates possibilities” and “helps generate cash for women.”
As stated in the ruling, the court found that the stolen assets were entitled to the same legal safeguards as any other property. Ozone Networks accounts were frozen, and OpenSea was ordered to provide any and all information it had on the two account holders who are now thought to be holding the stolen NFTs.
This judgement in England and Wales is significant because it removes any doubt that NFTs are property that may be frozen by an injunction.
NFTs may be frozen for the first time in the world (as far as we know) by an injunction, says Racheal Muldoon, a lawyer on the case, according to the Art Newspaper. “It is of the highest relevance,” Muldoon says. There will be no more ambiguity about the legal status of digital assets like digital artwork — such as NFTs — as property in England and Wales, according to this decision.
Although OpenSea has already restricted NFT sales on the platform, it has been mostly mute about the current verdict. Hermes v. Mason Rothschild, a recent case in which the first series of lawsuits examining how intellectual property law might be applied to NFTs, is now occupying the legal scene.
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