메타버스 아바타의 법적 지위 ― 인격성 인정 여부를 중심으로 ―

With the recent development of the metaverse, there is a growing argument that avatars should be recognized as having personhood similar to that of natural humans. However, I take the position in this paper that it is unreasonable to attribute personhood to avatars. Above all, the standpoint of recognizing the personalhood of avatars is based on the psychological identification of users who equate themselves with their avatars. However, the objectivity to confirm identity beyond psychological subjectivity has not been sufficiently established. Furthermore, from the perspective of social value assessment, recognizing personhood in avatars in the virtual world is seen as excessively imposing the cloak of real-world laws. In the midst of the mixed positive and negative effects of the metaverse, the legal intervention of the virtual world should be limited to an appropriate extent necessary to preserve the positive effects while minimizing the negative effects on reality. Lastly, from a legal-technical perspective, there are significant challenges in recognizing the personhood in avatars, such as determining the conditions under which personhood should be recognized and the scope of personhood protection. On the other hand, even if the personhood of avatars is not recognized, I emphasize that there are alternative legal measures that can address the psychological harm experienced by users through avatars in the metaverse, and that these alternatives should be sought first.