Judge Jed Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.), in today’s Hermes Int’l v. Rothschild, isn’t having it. First, the backstory from an earlier (May 2022) decision in the case:
Around December 2021, defendant Mason Rothschild created digital images of faux-fur-covered versions of the luxury Birkin handbags of plaintiffs Hermes International and Hermès of Paris, Inc. …. Rothschild titled these images “MetaBirkins” and sold them using so-called “NFTs” (non-fungible tokens), explained further below….
NFTs, or “non-fungible tokens,” are units of data stored on a blockchain that are created to transfer ownership of either physical things or digital media. When NFTs are created, or “minted,” they are listed on an NFT marketplace where NFTs can be sold, traded, etc., in accordance with “smart contracts” that govern the transfers. Because NFTs can be easily sold and resold with a transaction history securely stored on the blockchain, NFTs can function as…
