5 technology, media and IP trends for 2024

In recent years, the digital assets sector has experienced fads from the sudden rise and fall of NFTs to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. This has created intense cynicism, consumer interest and scams across the market.

In 2024, we expect this trend to die down, as regulators increasingly focus on digital assets, tightening the market and encouraging greater consumer protection. For example, the UK’s FCA is adopting new, stringent rules in marketing crypto assets, motivating businesses to increasingly integrate new technologies into their ways of working—as well as develop technology themselves.

Advancements in AI will continue to pose challenges for IP ownership. With today’s AI models collecting billions of data points from across the internet—often with little regard for permissions—there remains more questions than answers when it comes to how IP law will apply to questions of IP ownership. We can usually expect the unexpected when applying established law to modern technology not envisaged at the time the law was developed.

Additionally, it’s still unclear who owns the rights to AI-generated works. Multiple parties have a legitimate claim, and companies in the creative industries are specifically urging their legal teams to chase down instances where their IP is being infringed by AI models. In 2023, claims in this space came thick and fast—from Getty Images claiming millions of its images were copied from its data base without permission to a group of US authors suing Open AI—and we expect that trend to strengthen in 2024.

Numerous TV shows and film productions ground to a halt due to the 2023 writers’ strike, with the increasing use of AI a key topic of contention. Expect this to have a series of knock-on effects for actors, production companies and adjacent sub-sectors, as AI innovations continue to displace roles on the one hand, and create valuable efficiencies on the other.

With the end of the writer’s strike we can expect an influx of those working in the creative sector such as writers, videographers, film and tv producers to recommence trading. We’re likely to see post-production bottlenecks as companies race to get productions slated, as the industry attempts to right itself after what has been an uncertain period.

The global brand licensing market is projected to expand from $276 billion in 2021 to over $422 billion in 2031, driven by the need for brand awareness in the digital age, with products and brands often sold on multiple social platforms. We’ll increasingly see companies set up license deals to monopolize their brand, enabling them to enter new territories and create new revenue streams with minimal investment.

As much as brand licensing is a business opportunity, it comes with risk. Using licensed IP beyond the scope of the license agreement can run a risk for both the licensee as well as the licensor which may have conflicting license agreements in place.

Despite heavy investment from developers, AR still isn’t widely accepted by the gaming community, with most preferring keyboards and controllers. So why is Tim Cook in Vanity Fair, modelling the latest Apple Vision Pro, and why are companies like Ray Ban pushing their latest sunglasses integrated with AR?

While the global AR gaming market is expected to reach $38 billion by 2027, AR outside of this is expected to hit $60 billion by the end of 2024. Increasingly, we’ll see it transform everyday tasks from buying clothes online to servicing vehicles. What’s certain is that continuous investment in both the hardware and software surrounding this sector will both improve AR technology while making it more affordable.