What You Actually Buy When You Buy a Token
The most common mistake in the market of unique digital tokens (non-fungible tokens) is the assumption that acquiring the token means acquiring the copyright in the underlying work. Georgian law builds the relationship differently: there is no special statute for such tokens in Georgia, and the only real basis is the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. The author's personal non-property rights belong to the author independently of the property rights and remain with the author even upon their transfer (Article 17, part 3) — the sale of a token leaves authorship, the name and the integrity of the work with the author.
The list of personal non-property rights is defined directly by the law: the right of authorship, the right to the name including a pseudonym, the right to decide when and how the work is disclosed, the right to the integrity of the work, the right to respect for reputation, and the right of withdrawal. The alienation of these rights during the author's life is inadmissible (Article 17, part 4) — a clause "all rights transferred" written into a token cannot overcome this norm.
Property Rights and Their Transfer
The author or other copyright holder has the exclusive right to use the work in any form — the right to carry out, permit or prohibit reproduction, distribution, import, public display, public performance, public transmission, translation, adaptation and other uses (Article 18). It is precisely this property side that can move: the author or other holder may transfer all property rights or part of them to a successor (Article 36) — and this transfer happens by contract, in documentary form, not automatically by virtue of the token itself.
The practical conclusion cuts both ways. For the creator: when selling a token, the transfer of property rights must be defined separately and limited to specific uses. For the buyer: unless the contract or the sale terms state that property rights are transferred, the buyer owns only the token, not the right of commercial exploitation of the work.