Leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts as a mechanism to protect copyright

Abstract

In contrast other forms of intellectual property rights, copyright vests in an author upon creation without the need for prior registration. Over the years, laws have been developed both internationally and nationally, such as the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the WIPO Internet Treaties, and the Copyright Act, to regulate copyright protection. In South Africa, the latest of these developments is the Copyright Amendment Bill, which aims to keep abreast with international law and technology. However, the advancement of technology and globalisation through the internet, has presented challenges to the protection of copyrights due to the rapid and effortless distribution of works to a large group of people in different parts of the world. This often results in the infringement of authors' and owners' rights, making it difficult to identify the infringers. As technological problems require technological solutions, this paper proposes blockchain technology and smart contracts as mechanisms to enhance copyright protection, complementing the existing legal framework. The transparent and immutable nature of blockchain technology enables the provision of evidence of authorship and ownership of copyright, serving as a register for diligent searches of authors of orphan works. Smart contracts on the blockchain can facilitate the licensing of copyright works through standardised copyright smart contracts, which ultimately protect the economic rights of the author. To ensure accessibility of orphan works where the author cannot be located or their heir cannot be identified, smart contracts can be used to grant rights of use through a central authority. However, data protection, resistance to change, implementation costs, and the potential for the system to be used for illicit financial activities present challenges to implementing blockchain technology and smart contracts as a mechanism to enhance copyright protection