NFTs on trial: MetaBirkins puts digital art to the test

19-01-2023

Sarah Speight

NFTs on trial: MetaBirkins puts digital art to the test

Camera Rules / Shutterstock.com

With the court date just weeks away, will a clash between the virtual and real worlds live up to the hype? Sarah Speight investigates.

The case that everybody with an interest in fashion, art, digital goods, NFTs, intellectual property—or all of the above—will be watching, finally moves to trial at the end of this month.

Yes, you guessed it: the feud between a major French fashion house and a digital artist in the US—Hermès International v Rothschild, more colloquially known as the MetaBirkins case.

In 1984, luxury fashion brand Hermès created what has become known as the ‘holy grail of handbags’, the Birkin, so-named after actress Jane Birkin who apparently told the brand’s founder that she couldn’t find a bag to suit her needs as a young mother.


NFTs, metaverse, Hermès, Rothschild, MetaBirkins, Rogers, expressive works, fair use, digital goods, trademarks, copyright

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