Smart contracts, blockchain and intellectual property: challenges and reality

Abstract

The present chapter will look at the possible application of smart contracts in the intellectual property arena in general, but it will specifically discuss mostly copyright solutions, although a few uses apply to different areas of protection. This presents a few challenges, at the time of writing many of the proposals that will be discussed have not yet been implemented, or are in a prototype level, and as such we may have to assume their viability based on nothing other than a few examples that have not been fully tested. Similarly, legal discussions about the blockchain and smart contracts tend to be surrounded by considerable hype, often fuelled by commercial interests, and it is often difficult to separate facts from sales pitches. This is why this work will try to take a more sceptical approach to the phenomenon.