A professor from Texas A&M University School of Law recently published research exploring the use cases of blockchain technology in the world of copyright management. According to their findings, blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the way intellectual property is handled both “domestically and internationally.”
Dr. Peter Yu, Regents Professor of Law and Communications and director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University School of Law, and the paper’s sole author, argues that blockchain’s immutability makes it a prime candidate for integration with intellectual property. system.
According to the paper:
“On a blockchain, once a transaction has been recorded, it is virtually impossible to change that record. Should the transaction be recorded incorrectly, a new transaction will need to be hashed into the blockchain to provide correction. The immutability feature has therefore made blockchain technology very attractive for registering copyrights, storing ownership and licensing data, or performing other similar tasks.”
Dr. Yu further explains that, especially for the copyright system, the blockchain ledger can provide a method for people to determine the status of a particular document, such as whether the copyright has fallen into the public domain or has become orphaned.
Other benefits, according to the research, include traceability, transparency and disintermediation.
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Traceability is defined in the article as the ability to trace the entire life cycle of a registration in the copyright ledger from the beginning. Making that information available to the public through a blockchain explorer or similar method would provide an additional layer of transparency not available through traditional server-based filing systems.
The last benefit mentioned in Dr. Yu is discussed, disintermediation, concerns the ability of blockchain to operate independently of a governing body.
According to the article, the technology “supports global cooperation without dependence on a trusted intermediary – such as a government, a bank or a clearinghouse – even in the absence of participation or support from governments or intergovernmental agencies.”
Dr. Yu speculates that these benefits could lead to an artist/company-led copyright system in which intellectual property might be registered and mediated independently of the state.