Israel-based blockchain start-up Wemark is likely to disrupt the digital photography space with their blockchain-powered platform. They are planning to issue their cryptocurrency Wemark Token (WMK) as part of their solution.
Digital photography is a highly centralized space. Photographers submit their work to the stock photography websites and earn only 15-35% of the revenue as royalty. Less than 100 companies control the space, who do the digital marketing and the content management for the work done by the photographers and take a majority of the revenue.
The system isn’t transparent enough, and the photographers are entirely dependent on the digital content management companies for the accounting of the revenue and royalty. Licensing process isn’t secure enough, and users downloading digital photographs often don’t pay heed to the copyright agreement requirements.
Transformation of this industry needed a technology solution that can eliminate the middlemen, make revenue figures transparent, and safeguard copyrights. Wemark has zeroed in on the blockchain technology for this transformation.
The blockchain technology guarantees decentralization by design. Computers on the network, called ‘nodes’, maintain a distributed database in a shared manner, with no central server. The network is permanent, with every node having equal authority.
Block records, called ‘blocks’, are interlinked in a predetermined protocol, and no existing block can be deleted or modified. A new block needs to be created to update a blockchain, and this requires solving a cryptographic puzzle, which amounts to a large number-crunching operation at high-speed, requiring very high computing power. Also, the consensus mechanism of the blockchain requires transaction validation by a majority of the nodes. Such rigor makes hacking the network impossible with currently available technology, hence it’s very secure.
The relationship between the stakeholders in the blockchain is governed by smart contracts, i.e. pieces of code allowing legal-like functions, such as taking control of an entity based on some conditions. Smart contracts are transparent, rule-driven, automatic and irreversible, hence trust is automatically generated in the system.
Wemark has created an Ethereum blockchain-based platform for the digital photographers to take the future of their work in their control. The photographers can license their photos directly to the consumers, with no central agency involved.
The photographers can earn up to 85% of the revenue as royalty, a big improvement from the 15-35% they earn currently. The price is set by the photographers themselves, the consumption details of their work are transparent to them thanks to the blockchain technology.
The royalty rates are secured by immutable smart contracts, and neither the photographers nor Wemark can change them afterward, thus creating trust in the system. The photographers can register themselves in the platform in using a simple user interface (UI), with a government identification. All transactions between the consumers and the photographers will be conducted in WMK.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based Wemark has already entered into partnerships with Caia Image and Cavan Images. The platform already has over 300,000 photos contributed by over 3,000 photographers. The company conducted its their Initial Coin Offering (ICO) during July 2018.
Pic from www.wemark.com
