I think blockchain and other distributed systems technologies could help artists, musicians, and other content creators optimize their intellectual property (IP). That is, they could give creators more direct control over their works, while making distribution and compensation more seamless. This could serve artist-entrepreneurs particularly well, and usher in the next evolution of user-generated content: user-generated business (UGB).

Of course, consumer-generated business is already here and has been around for a while. You can buy your favorite band’s CD, tell your friend she has to hear how the lead singer kills it, then she can go and buy the album, too.

But, the band has no idea you upped their sales – how would you prove it? What if they’d want to give you an early release of their next EP as a reward if you could prove it? How would they get it to you? Online streaming and sales can provide data on artist-user interaction, but depending on the service, artists and users have varying levels of access to that information.

The concept of UGB gets even more fun with remixes (“derivative works” in copyright speak): what if you want to make an awesome t-shirt based on a still from an indie film, but you have no idea where to get the rights for the image, or how to pay the filmmakers for it?

 

These are two examples of where blockchains, distributed systems, cryptocurrency, and machine-readable agreements (fine… “smart contracts”) could make things more interesting. We’re still unfolding the ways that this could happen. Each protocol, app, and initiative has its own purpose, benefits, and drawbacks. And of course, the right combinations have to coalesce and meet the right use cases.

 

I’m seeking to record and analyze some of that development here on this blog. I hope that sharing this knowledge will help more people to understand how blockchain and distributed systems technologies could support the creative industries, and to engage in an open discussion about the big, and the small, questions.

Many thanks to a mentor of mine who helped me define my focus in this space, and encouraged me to start blogging about it.

 

P.S. From a property theory perspective, I think these technologies can optimize one’s “bundle of sticks”*. In the context of IP, blockchains and distributed file systems could make it easier to separate the sticks out from the bundle and control them on a more granular level. The challenge of course is to avoid the pitfalls of digital rights management (DRM), which can be antithetical to the web’s collaborative nature and low distribution costs, while allowing rights enforcement.

*The bundle of sticks metaphor explains that your ownership of one thing, such as a painting you made, is comprised of numerous different rights. For example, you can make copies of your painting (generally, the “right of reproduction” in copyright law), sell your painting (right of distribution), and take photographs of your painting (right to create derivative works). You can enter into a transaction with another person to give him one of these rights, all of them, or some of them. You could even give him a piece of a stick. For example, you tell him he can go ahead and sell your original masterpiece, but only in Canada.