Bitcoin Bites

Following from our recent blog, Bitcoin remains a hot topic.

Dr Craig Wright, an Australian scientist who claims to be the original creator of Bitcoin, has recently been granted to serve proceedings on a third party for allegedly infringing his copyright.

Background

Dr Wright has been granted permission to serve legal proceedings against a website operator called Cøbra that has published the original Bitcoin whitepaper on its website. In response, Cøbra has rebutted the English court’s jurisdiction, stating it is not based in Britain and that Dr Wright’s claims are without merit and that he has not substantiated ownership in the copyright to the white paper.

Numerous commentators around the world have long questioned the real identity of the original creator of Bitcoin, long held to be a “Satoshi Nakomoto”, with many assuming this name to be a pseudonym. This recent action may at long last lead to a Court ruling on whether Dr Wright is indeed the original creator of the crypto currency.

Bitcoin enthusiasts eagerly await the outcome of the judgement as it may at long last provide some insight into the shrouded origins behind one of the world’s most important digital assets.

Briffa comment

This case goes to show that copyright is one of the key intellectual property rights you can have. Not only is it free to record (in the UK at least) but it also protects a broad spectrum of valuable materials like reports, documents, presentations and other literary materials such as blogs and videos.

One of the key obstacles rights holders often face is being able to prove ownership of copyright in their materials and this case is an apt reminder of this difficulty and you should always keep a clear record trail so that you can avoid disputes like this!

Here at Briffa the team benefits from over 25 years’ experience in defending and bringing copyright claims in virtually every jurisdiction in the world. If you need any further information in this regard, please do feel free to get in touch with us via info@briffa.com.

Written by Tom Synott, Associate