Define: Digital Property

What Digital Property Means in a Contract

Digital Property is a contractual term used to describe assets that exist only in digital form and that carry economic or legal value. Unlike physical goods, digital property cannot be touched or physically delivered, yet it can be owned, licensed, transferred, or destroyed under the terms a contract sets out. Examples include software code, digital media files, domain names, in-game items, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, and stored data.

When a contract refers to digital property, it is typically establishing who holds rights to the asset, what those rights permit, and how the asset may be used or transferred between parties. This framing matters because digital assets often lack the clear physical possession cues that traditionally signal ownership, so the contract itself becomes the primary evidence of who controls the property.

Because digital property spans such a broad category, contracts often narrow the definition to specific asset types relevant to the transaction, avoiding ambiguity about whether the term includes underlying intellectual property rights, mere access rights, or both.

How Digital Property Is Defined or Measured

Digital property is usually defined by reference to the specific medium or platform on which it exists, along with the rights attached to it. A contract might define digital property as any content, code, or data stored on a specified server, application, or blockchain, and then list categories such as files, licenses, credentials, or tokens that fall within that definition.

Measurement of digital property often focuses less on physical quantity and more on scope of rights. Contracts may distinguish between full ownership transfer and limited usage rights, such as a license to use software without acquiring the underlying code. This distinction is central to agreements like an