Discussion document to frame discussion with content owners about approaching proof of concept uses for blockchain.

1. Michael Cairns
Managing Partner
Information Media Partners
Blockchain for Content
“Proof of concept” discussion document

2. 2
Blockchain is not established technology
Scale issues: Blockchain verification is slow
❖ Can only handle a relatively small number of transactions per hour
❖ Many blockchain applications are still niche
❖ Solvable but continuously improving problem similar to early HTTP
❖ Still a long way off scale
Government & governance
❖ Law and regulations have not kept up
❖ Exists with most new technology but will improve over time
❖ Many influential governance and industry bodies exist to define and establish standards
❖ Long term benefit of blockchain is dependent on interoperability: collaboration is inevitable
There are few “proof of concept” examples
❖ Rapid development and improvement across industries
❖ Issue is increasingly irrelevant
There is no “Microsoft”
❖ Technical architecture remains ‘ad hoc’ and “wild, wild west”
❖ There are standards groups and associations
❖ Every large software application company is actively involved in blockchain development
Publicity of Blockchain
❖ There is a lot of hype which can be hard to justify
❖ Real business cases for blockchain are critical and important
❖ Will there be the inevitable fall due to “irrational exuberance” similar to the ‘internet bubble’?

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The problem isn’t blockchain
▪ What clear business problem you are addressing?
❖ Is the problem material?
❖ Will the improvements improve operations/outcomes
materially?
❖ Is the cost benefit positive (to support your time and
investment)?
❖ Have you researched a broad range of possible solutions?
▪ Customers want to solve a problem not “use blockchain”
❖ Is blockchain uniquely able and/or the best approach?
❖ Is there sufficient scale to the solution? Is there a plan for
getting there?
▪ Does this even make sense?
▪ What are your competitors doing?

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McKinsey report on blockchain
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/blockchain-beyond-the-hype-what-is-the-strategic-business-
value

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Applications in publishing
Workflow
• ARTiFacts
• Mediachain
• Po.et
• Content attribution for
researchers registered
on blockchain
• Aid to discovery
• Version controlling
• Peer-to-peer content
and data sharing
• Document verification
Contracts
• Publica
• DE Decent
• Katalysis
• LBRY
• Blockai
• Ascribe
• Soundcloud
• Peer-to-peer
transactions
• Open source
distribution platform
• B2C & C2C
monetization and
distribution
• Multi-media content
Micropayments
• Blendle
• Coinetize
• Steem.io
• Disaggregated content
• Browser based
“wallets”
• Fractions of cent
• Cryto-based solutions
• Rewards program
Database
Publishing
• Everipedia
• GemOS
• Authority control
• Supply chain
management
• Product data
• Unique identifiers
• Credentialing
• Rewards

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Applications for content and media
▪ Register and protect against copyright infringement
❖ Catalog and store original works of art, digital intellectual property,
documents, manuscripts, images/photos
▪ Decentralized, non-proprietary blockchain enables content
and IP users to find and use authorized content
❖ Blockchain built as a “trust network”
❖ Distributed network designed to eliminate bad actors
▪ Note: US infringement cases require official copyright office
registration
❖ Blockchain isn’t ‘protection’
❖ Blockchain provides public record of ownership
❖ Easier access to author/creator which US copyright office finds
difficult
❖ Blockchain could eliminate ‘orphan work’ issue
▪ Once on blockchain it is there forever

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What problems does blockchain solve?
▪ Blockchain registry could offer/create tamper proof record of ownership
❖ In UK, copyright is unregistered exists on creation of the work
❖ Ownership hard prove and hard for licensees to determine person/entity to grant a
license
❖ Owners risk infringement and limited monetization of their work
▪ Blockchain enables any party to see chain of ownership
❖ Licenses, sublicenses, assignments, etc.
❖ Blockai/Ascribe using blockchain in this way to make record of copyright ownership
▪ Facilitates ability to see where and how content is used
❖ Enables programmatic content control capability: search all web sources
simultaneously
❖ Allows “use and payment” control. Are licensees using content as licensed?
❖ Significantly reduces mis-use/piracy: Potentially improves license revenue
❖ More usage data will enable more business models and experimentation: variable,
demand based pricing
▪ Blockchain is in effect a “digital certificate” of ownership/authenticity
❖ Allows users to ID the official work of an author and tackle infringements
❖ Low cost of maintenance, increased transparency, lessened admin burden,
resilience to fraud

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Micropayments & smart contracts
▪ Frequently difficult to ID the correct content owner
❖ Cumbersome and time consuming process
❖ Misinformation/ misappropriation of ownership
❖ Cost of infringement mitigates against use
▪ Resulting behavior
❖ Inappropriate use and piracy
❖ Non use/lost revenue
▪ Smart contracts: Terms ‘ride along’ with the content/IP
❖ Licenses are ‘self-executing’ on use of the content
❖ Makes it easy for users to do the right thing
❖ Blockchain with micropayments could make monetization very easy
❖ Enables enforcement of contract terms
❖ Micropayments (using bitcoin) eliminate ‘transaction costs’ of small value
transactions
▪ Potential significant impact on collecting agencies if more artists choose to
cut out intermediaries
❖ Imogen Heap album Tiny Mirrors released on blockchain incorporating the above
solutions

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Blockchain in news and information
▪ Civil
❖ Blockchain based platform for content, newspaper and civic/purpose driven organizations
❖ Colorado Sun: community-supported, journalist-owned team focused on investigative,
explanatory and narrative journalism
▪ Snip
❖ A distributed system wherein writers can offer snippets -- concise summaries of news articles --
and the public can choose the topics they want to read about, whether sports, technology,
medicine, etc.
❖ Snip has built a verification and reward system wherein the writers can earn SnipCoin (Snip’s
version of a cryptocurrency token) by writing excellent snippets. Advertisers can pay Snipcoin to
increase visibility. Readers can tip writers with tokens and, if they choose, clear their feeds of
advertisements for a small Snipcoin payment
▪ onG.social
❖ Created a social media dashboard that rewards real news with digital tokens (similar to
cryptocurrency, think of these as rewards), given by users to other users who post the real
news
❖ Cryptocurrency can then be exchanged for currency -- dollars, pounds, euros, etc. Users
can realistically make money by curating and sharing real news and rejecting fake ones
▪ Baidu
❖ Totem uses a blockchain to timestamp submissions of each original photograph from a
user with a real-name identity and store data associated with the images on a distributed
network

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Solutions benefits summary
▪ Copyright and attribution
❖ Owner information imbedded in blockchain
❖ Enabled business model
❖ Protect & enhance revenue streams
▪ Reputation
❖ Establish a reputation network
❖ Trust
❖ Protect content
▪ Discovery
❖ Control and manage metadata
❖ Aid in censorship and restrictions

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Michael Cairns
Managing Partner
Michael.Cairns@InfoMediaPartners.com
908 938 4889