Virtual Property: Legal Issues Related to the Transition to a Digital Environment and Critical Assessment of the Current Approach
Abstract
The subject of this article is virtual property with a focus on virtual objects in computer games, simulations, and virtual and augmented reality. Virtual property is a term that has been appearing in the legal literature for approximately twenty years, and the literature is still relatively ambiguous and its meaning uncertain.
However, since the first occurrence of this concept, society has not only not changed, but has even more transferred to the digital environment. From the ownership of tangible media, we moved to accessing various databases full of music, films, or books.
Virtual objects are of similar importance, whether in computer games or in augmented and virtual reality. The question therefore arises as to whether (especially civil) law should not evolve and start to reflect this phenomenon.
The article analyzes the existing literature on virtual property and then reflects on it. The aim of the article is to identify the crucial issues and reflect the current approach and open a wider debate on the legal regulation of virtual objects.
The author considers the absence of an analysis of the technical aspects of virtual objects and excessive adherence to the topic of property rights instead of a general debate over the legal nature of virtual objects as such to be the main problem.