Kodak has today announced a new blockchain technology service and platform entitled KODAKOne, through which photographers can register images before licensing them. The site has its own currency, KODAKCoin, which users will receive upon sale of their photos.
KODAKCoin is being billed as “a photo-centric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.” It is intended to be not only a new potential form of revenue, but aims to do so with through the usage of a more secure platform, so photographers can protect their work. Both old and new photos will be accepted.
Kodak says:
With KODAKCoin, participating photographers are invited to take part in a new economy for photography, receive payment for licensing their work immediately upon sale, and for both professional and amateur photographers, sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform.
Shares in Eastman Kodak Co surged an impressive 35 percent to $4.17 following the announcement – a stark contrast to its value over the past year, which has dropped more than 70 percent.
What's more, the service will also conduct web searches in order to locate potential copyright infringements of any work uploaded to the system. Should violations be found, the service assists photographers with the post-licensing process to reclaim whatever financial compensation they may be owed.
CEO Jeff Clarke said: "Engaging with a new platform, it is critical photographers know their work and their income is handled securely and with trust, which is exactly what we did with KODAKCoin."
KODAKOne will be launching this week, with KODAKCoin beginning on January 31st, 2018. See more at the KODAKCoin website.
Call me cynical, but this sure smells like the ghost of a former company latching onto the latest fad to try to reassert their relevance.
Maybe. Or maybe it's a company that learned it's lesson after getting it's rear-end kicked by the digital revolution and now it's trying to get out in front of a potentially massive new market. Nobody should be putting all their eggs into the Bitcoin basket, but I think companies ignore its potential at their own peril.
I'm certainly open to the idea, but I guess where I'm really stumbling with this is wondering why they think photographers want to be paid in a new Kodak-backed cryptocurrency instead of normal money. It sure seems to me like photographers are just the instrument to legitimize their attempt to jump on the bitcoin wagon, but feel free to tell me if I'm missing something here.
Legit question, and I don't know the answer. My guess is that Kodak is banking on the photographers who are intent on protecting their copyrights seeing value in their service, moreso than in the currency.
Also, a move toward cryptocurrency could be largely aimed at wedding photographers, many of whom have dealt with clients who put a stop on a check or challenged charges on their credit cards. Assuming Kodak is following the Bitcoin model, payments made up front would be irreversible unless the payee (photographer) refunds the money.
I find this all fascinating. It's disruptive, to be sure. Only time will tell if it's successful.
Wtf is going on
Yeah man, Kodak and currency is just..odd.
So weird, nothing good can come from this lol
To the moooooon!
Don't try to get them processed normally. Send them to Film Rescue International. I've sent them Kodachrome rolls I shot and forgot about from the 70s and they pulled images off them (albeit only in B&W). They can sometimes retrieve color data from certain types of film, I recently also sent them an E-4 Ektachrome roll that I found as well, not sure if they can pull color images off them. Your rolls are relatively new by comparison.
Yeah yeah, sooooooo now every company is going to make their own form of currency? Seems a bit like when states were making their own currency, and some states wouldn't accept others, and then eventually if became illegal, ........ hmmmmm
I think it sounds like a quiet interesting concept. But im not that excited about the cryptocurrency
Seeing kodak implode when the crypto currency bubble bursts in 3, 2, 1....
Also if graphic cards are scarce in the market now... I don't want to think what will happen now there is a "mainstream" cryptocurrency...
There's some misunderstanding about what they are doing.
They are creating a cryptocurrency so they can use the blockchain technology to prove/verify ownership. This is being done in other areas, one being land records. Essentially, you submit your copyright to the chain and its recorded. Only future "transactions" can modify it, so if you never transfer the copyright, it will always stay with you. And because of the way the blockchain works, if someone were to try and modify the original record, the chain would be invalid.
I don't think they expect to people to really use the currency a lot, but that's the only way to keep the chain going and "reward" people for mining blocks.
Here's an article explaining how the technology is being used for more than just cryptocurrency.
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/using-the-blockchain-to-track-assets-for-p...
I missed this news, how possible? Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize industries by offering the efficiency, security and automation unimagined before.
https://fstoppers.com/business/kodak-launches-licensing-platform-exclusi...