Chair:
Neil Brown, Director, decoded:legal
Speakers:
Tim Ryan, Partner and head of Media & Technology, DAC Beachcroft
Kelsey Farish, Associate, DAC Beachcroft
About the event: Non-fungible tokens, distributed ledger technology, memes on OpenSea and Rarible… if this jargon has your head spinning and you don’t know your ethereum from your bitcoin, you’re not alone. Even experienced technology lawyers have been known to ask: “NFTs – WTF?”
Here to break it all down for you with some practical insight on non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) is Tim Ryan, head of media and technology at DAC Beachcroft, together with Kelsey Farish, an associate in his team. The seminar will begin with the basics, with Kelsey and Tim explaining what an NFT is, to include how they’re made, stored, and sold. Fun fact: as of May 2021, the most expensive NFT fetched nearly £50 million at auction!
After setting the scene, they dive into the details, and set out what NFTs mean for the cryptoasset world more generally, to include blockchain records and transactions, as well as proof of work. The third and final section of the webinar is an open dialogue, in which the two will discuss what NFTs may mean for various industries, and what lawyers should bear in mind.
Speaker Details:
Tim Ryan is a Partner at DAC Beachcroft and head of the firm’s national media and technology team, whose clients range from scale-ups to listed companies. In addition to leading on large technology projects and transactions, Tim is heavily involved in working with his clients on a wide range of operational and practical business matters. He has been advising on blockchain and cryptocurrencies for several years, and has both personal and professional knowledge of NFTs from technological, commercial, and legal perspectives. He has written and spoken extensively on the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in many sectors, to include media, finance, entertainment, and beyond. You can follow him on Twitter at @TimRyanMe.
Kelsey Farish is an Associate in Tim’s team at DAC Beachcroft in London. Like Tim, Kelsey works on a variety of media and technology matters, but her particular expertise is in disruptive digital media and internet governance. Kelsey’s recent cryptocurrency work includes advising a digital artist on the copyright implications of creating and selling NFTs, as well as advising a major cryptocurrency on its various intellectual property assets. You can follow her on Twitter at @KelseyFarish, where she regularly shares stories and research related to deepfakes and social media regulations.
Chair’s Details:
Neil Brown is a solicitor and managing director of law firm decoded:Legal. Neil spent the first 10 years of his career at Vodafone, advising a whole range of technical teams including network operations, security and resiliency, and R&D, and he now advises clients doing all sorts of interesting technical stuff. His code works most of the time, and his interest in networking and IP services is evidenced by the myriad servers heating his house. Neil is an SCL Fellow. You can follow Neil on Twitter at @neil_neilzone.
