A Review of Media Copyright Management using Blockchain Technologies from the Academic and Business Perspectives

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current state of blockchain applications in media copyright management, highlighting the gap between academic research and industry initiatives, and identifying key use cases from both perspectives.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview combining academic literature and industry practices, identifying four main use cases of blockchain in media copyright management.

Findings

Academic literature on blockchain in media is scarce and immature.

Industry initiatives are more advanced and numerous, driven by venture capital.

Four prominent use cases of blockchain in media copyright management are identified.

Abstract

Blockchain technologies open new opportunities for media copyright management. To provide an overview of the main initiatives in this blockchain application area, we have first reviewed the existing academic literature. The review shows literature is still scarce and immature in many aspects, which is more evident when comparing it to initiatives coming from the industry. Blockchain has been receiving significant inflows of venture capital and crowdfunding, which have boosted its progress in many fields, including its application to media management. Consequently, we have complemented the review with a business perspective. Existing reports about blockchain and media have been studied and consolidated into four prominent use cases. Moreover, each one has been illustrated through existing businesses already exploring them. Combining the academic and industry perspectives, we provide a more general and complete overview of current trends in media copyright management using blockchain technologies.