CONTENT RESALE (STANDARD CASE)

Alice has purchased a DRM-free ebook with a collection of news articles (dossier) through an online retailer or directly from the publisher’s website. After reading the book she wants to resell the content.

Alice logs in to a content resale platform that can handle content which has been registered on the content blockchain. The platform also has support for on-chain payments. With the private key of the wallet address that she used to purchase the content she can prove her license ownership to the resale platform. Alice is told whether she may resell the book or not and under what conditions the content resale transaction may take place. This way, Alice is informed how much coins she will receive for this specific resale transaction.

Previously, the rights owner has defined a smart license for content transactions for this specific content, allowing resale transactions through the content blockchain or not. If the latter is the case or if no smart license is available for a specific content, the resale transaction will be suspended. In case the content may be resold under conditions defined in a smart license (e.g. provided a compensation is being paid to the rights owner through a direct on-chain payment), the transaction may continue and the digital content will be offered for resale to other users.

Bob logs in to the content resale platform and discovers an ebook he would like to purchase. The ebook is sold either for a fixed retail price (in case local price fixing laws apply) or for a resale price that will compensate the rights owner according to the smart license which includes a cut for the content resale platform, the content hosting and distribution service.

After the transaction has been successfully performed by a split payment of native blockchain currency to all involved parties, Bob will receive access to the ebook content through a download-URL. The transaction will be publicly registered on the content blockchain. This way, Bob will be able to prove that he has legally acquired the content from Alice (content transfer).

by Sebastian Posth