YOU decide about the use of your work

…We are developing an App for authors in the Internet of Value just for that.

[Listen or read the podcast-post IN SPANISH]

In previous episodes of this podcast we have seen the fundamental components of copyrights licenses. We have realized how so far any author has had to accommodate to the terms of his publishers and distributors, both in the physical and in the digital world, because he depends on them to reach his audience. But in Web 3.0, technology si going to allow us to take control of our digital works by certifying our ownership and authenticity, especially through the creation of NFTs.

To manage the rights of use for digital works, which today can be certified and transferred as NFTs, authors should be able to attach licenses. Only in this way, whoever buys these NFTs can know what he/she can really and legally do with the digital file he/she receives it, because right now, except in some cases, the issue is still unclear and may pose problems.

It is precisely to solve these problems, and so that the artist-authors can freely decide how they want to sell the digital copies of their works on the Internet, that we started to develop an app, Smartists, and right now we are working on the terms of the licenses of the works to be sold as NFTs directly.

Those terms include the different components of the licenses taking into account their digital context, as we presented them in the previous episode of this podcast. Each and every one of these components has its importance. However, today I am going to stop at the one that I think may interest artist-authors the most: the price of the license, or better what the creator gets when transferring their art work with a copyright license.

Who decides what corresponds to the author for his rights?

Publishers make their proposals to authors, record companies to musicians, many digital platforms often require free licenses or offer small royalties. In an art auction, it is the buyer candidates who set the final price, which is shared between the owner of the work and the auction house. There are many situations and many other cases, but there is one that interests us today especially in Smartists: private sale.

Until today, in the digital world, it was only possible to sell digital works on platforms publicly and with non-exclusive licenses, and this was often done through management entities. An artist-author could only sell his work directly and sign an exclusive license agreement in the physical world, and not in the digital world. Instead, thanks to the blockchain technology that has launched the NFTs, this possibility of making private sales is making its way on the Internet as well. But what is the interest of that?

We are going to visualize a situation in the physical world, which is not difficult to imagine, and see how it could be translated into the digital world. In his study of the physical world, an artist can make special and unique offers for some work that he keeps in his warehouse and put a price at his will, he can also work on demand on unique and personalized works to sell them with special licenses for clients in a way individual. What if this were possible in the digital world? What if the authors could serve some of their loyal customers individually on the web, and offer them exclusive copies for special uses? This is not an impossible dream, in reality this is an actual opportunity, and at Smartists we work to see it happen.

Smartists

We are a small team, developing an app in the Stacks ecosystem whose mission is to build a better Internet, in the hands of users, and on Bitcoin, which is the most secure and widespread blockchain. Today we already have a simple model, a minimum viable product, which cannot yet be presented in public, but which we are already sharing with those most interested. In a comment* to this episode I will leave a link to a more detailed presentation. Also if you want to see our model, you can request it and we will contact you personally.

We are at the beginning of a new era for artists who want to self-manage. Smartists will offer every artist the key to his/her own private studio, and with time the possibility of selling some art works in his/her own private gallery within their studios. Artists will have the option to make deals in a more personalized way for their clients, while in the media and in Markets they can present themselves in public to new audiences, building their public image and reputation. In this sense, the first licenses that we are going to develop as smart contracts in Smartists will be used by NFTs platforms that are already underway in the Stacks ecosystem.

We would love to have you on board for this adventure. Artist-authors are helping us define the licenses that we are going to implement as smart contracts. Specialist lawyers are also invited to contribute, and art users - publishers, producers, etc. - can contribute their point of view so that the terms of our licenses are effective and useful for all.

I will leave links in the comments in order to connect with each other…

We are laying the foundations for copyright management on web 3.0, and we are both excited and aware of our responsibility.

Georgina Mauriño

Author and founder of Smartists on Stacks, building a user owned Internet.