Smart Contracts, Blockchain and Intellectual Property: Challenges and Reality

Smart Contracts, Blockchain and Intellectual Property: Challenges and Reality
Andres Guadamuz (Sussex University)
ISBN:9789403522135
Kluwer Law International

With transaction costs set to increase due to the multitude of licensing agreements necessary to fuel big data analysis in the 4IR, providing easy and automated access to (non-)personal information is crucial. The use of blockchain has often been heralded as the solution for providing self-enforceable and self-executing contracts that can effectuate automated access, terms of use, and payment for database content and copyright materials. However, blockchain is not without problems, and may not be sustainable in the long run. This contribution discusses whether blockchain, itself a 4IR technology, can play a role in the data-driven economy.