Tech Giants Make Early Moves in Blockchain Copyright

Microsoft recently partnered with Ernst and Young (“E&Y”) to create their own blockchain-based copyright and royalty payment processing system. It will not only allow transactions to be visible by anyone on the block explorer, it will also create a system that processes royalty payments faster than they are currently capable of doing. This new corporate-driven blockchain-based copyright system has also incorporated Quorum, a blockchain platform created by J.P. Morgan, that will be utilized to protect private business deals and process the rising number of transactions Microsoft is seeing daily.

Big Tech Builds a New Copyright Management System

Microsoft is bringing in some real heavy hitters to help its new blockchain copyright program succeed. In order to make sure the new project will move forward, Microsoft and E&Y have partnered up with Ubisoft. When the new blockchain-based copyright system is established, Ubisoft will utilize it for their gaming system to track and record intellectual property transactions. From there, smart contracts will verify ownership and decide the royalty payment amount.

Microsoft intends to run its program on Quorum, will be operating in tandem with Microsoft Azure, the cloud processing platform that allows users to store data on Microsoft servers rather than on a PC’s hard-drive or a flash-drive. E&Y and Microsoft are designing smart contracts as a solution to serve any situation where the creators of a certain product are paid in royalties based on agreements. This a common transaction across all sorts of creative and service-based industries, particularly in the tech space.

Intellectual Property Solutions on the Blockchain

Upon implementation of blockchain into Microsoft’s royalty payment processing system, the company plans to increase the efficiency of their current royalty payment and tracking process by 60%. In addition to these efficiency gains, the new blockchain-based approach to digital rights management will enable Microsoft to provide its users with a faster and more dependable service. Microsoft has predicted that when the blockchain project is fully developed, it will be able to manage millions of transactions on a daily basis.

Additionally, the project will aid in streamlining the costly manual reconciliation process that burdens bookkeepers across the entertainment and technology industries. The smart contracts will automate transactions between different parties, which will be beneficial in paying royalties for collaborative projects, as the blockchain allows each creator to be allocated the royalties that they are entitled to without complicated manual processes.

Managing intellectual property and digital rights on the blockchain is a highly valuable potential application of this innovative new technology. This solution will give users real-time visibility of transactions that will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the dynamics that make blockchain so beneficial for managing data and related transactions. The blockchain project will also help to solve some of Microsoft’s major operating issues and inefficiencies by helping to tighten up key data-driven activities. All in all, big tech’s move into the blockchain space may result in some exciting new developments in what has thus far been a grass-roots driven field.