Sony develops blockchain-based rights management system for digital content

Japanese tech giant Sony today announced that it is developing a blockchain-based rights management system for digital content.

The system is being jointly developed by Sony Corporation, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony Global Education. It will build on Sony and Sony Global Education’s previously developed system for authenticating, sharing, and rights management of educational data, and additionally features functionality for processing rights-related information.

The new system will focus on the management of rights-related information of written works and leverage blockchain technology to timestamp the data and record verifiable information in a secure manner. It will allow participants to share and verify when a piece of electronic data was created and by whom, Sony explained.

“In addition to the creation of electronic data, booting up this system will automatically verify the rights generation of a piece of written works, which has conventionally proven difficult. Furthermore, the system lends itself to the rights management of various types of digital content including electronic textbooks and other educational content, music, films, VR content, and e-books. As such, Sony is contemplating possible uses in a wide range of fields,” it added.

Sony said that the newly developed system can be utilized to manage educational materials and other forms of content used in the field of education. According to the official release, Sony Global Education is considering its possible commercialization as a service.

“Through the technological development and commercialization of blockchains, including with this new system, Sony will continue exploring the possibilities that blockchain technology holds for Sony Group’s diverse and wide-ranging business domains,” Sony said.