Who Owns the Blockchain? How Copyright Law Allows Right Holders to Control Blockchains

Abstract

The lack of control by a single authority is an oft-described characteristic of blockchain technology. This article shows the extent to which US and EU copyright law protects information stored on a blockchain and the manner in which right holders are able to control blockchains. While the two legal systems are almost identical in terms of protection of individual information stored on a blockchain, there are significant differences in the protection of the compilation of information.