Different applications of blockchain technology – a kind of digital database, which can be used to record or track any type of transaction – as an intellectual property asset were presented, today, on the last day of ABPI’s 40thI Congress, on the panel “Blockchain as a tool for copyright control and licensing”. The debate brought together Carlos Gayotto, from Tune Traders, Carlos Rischioto, from IBM, and Fernanda Garcia, from the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL), mediated by lawyer Thamilla Talarico.
Fernanda Garcia recalled that the registration of intellectual works is optional under the terms of the current Brazilian Copyright Law (Law 9.610/98), but that many authors do this procedure in notary offices. However, with new digital technologies, the possibility of leaking an unprecedented work has increased, and it has become necessary to have more secure means for the protection and privacy of information. CBL has a blockchain platform for registering copyrighted works. Garcia noted that blockchain technology was recently recognized as evidence in a court decision issued by the 5th chamber of private law of the São Paulo Court of Appeals. “The author can now register works or contracts on blockchain technology on the CDL platform. “Blockchain is much more secure, with the advantage that registration is immutable”, she said.
Rischioto explained that IBM has more than 500 projects using blockchain technology with transactions aimed at protecting financial data, traceability, managing paper money, selling tickets, and controlling advertising, among others. In Europe, Big Blue is developing a project to guarantee the uniqueness of pieces, such as photographs and documents, and another in the area of intellectual property. “Among the great advantages of blockchain are the guarantee of immutability and privacy of data, which is shared and distributed to all participants in the network”, said the IBM representative.
In his presentation, Gayotto explained that Tune Traders operates in the worldwide streaming market, which, according to projections, will grow nine times in the next ten years. The company, he clarified, works as an intellectual property stock exchange and uses a crowd-investing model in blockchain, which transforms future revenues into dividends that are distributed to fans and investors. “Today, a song plugged into our ecosystem is distributed to more than 500 streaming distributors worldwide, which gives the artist more clarity about where his revenues are coming from”, he explained.
