Music In The Metaverse: Are Current Laws Sufficient Or Are New Laws Required?

Archana Viswanath

Introduction

With the advent of the metaverse there have arisen several new legal complications that become more serious due to the lack of precedence and standards.1 There is a new degree of freedom on the platform that opens possibilities to new forms of crime and misconduct. Hence, the legal issues range from data privacy, cyber security, real life crimes that are replicated on the platform,2 virtual land disputes, incorporations on the platform, and intellectual property issues. Specific to IP issues, the use of music and its licensing pose big questions on how it will work on the platform. This paper will mainly focus on the issues regarding music licensing and additional legal questions that arise with it. There will also be an investigation into whether the current copyright laws are sufficient in dealing with the issues, or if new legislation is required.

Definition of “metaverse”

One major issue pertains to the lack of an agreed definition of “metaverse”. What does metaverse entail? The platform provides interoperability and an immersive experience for its users. It is a horizontal space where the user can enter different rooms that co- exist and function at the same time.3 Every room is hosted by different hosts. As several meta spaces exist at the same time, this provides teleportation like features on the platform.4 What differentiates the metaverse from most other social media platforms is its decentralised nature. In simpler terms, the metaverse is a virtual reality where users can interact with one another and perform several activities from building one’s own avatar, creating their own space, minting non- fungible tokens (NFTs), to conducting and attending virtual concerts, playing games, and more. Considering the things that can be achieved on the platform, there are several copyright dimensions to be looked into.