Kodak is today announcing a partnership with Wenn Digital to create a “photo-centric cryptocurrency” that will “empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.” Because why not. It’s 2018. The company’s stock jumped 44 percent on the news and is currently trading at $4.30, up 37.60% on the day. Here’s the buzzword-filled description of the product. Utilizing blockchain technology, the KODAKOne platform will create an encrypted, digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers to register both new and archive work that they can then license within the platform. With KODAKCoin, participating photographers are invited to take part in a new economy for photography, receive payment for licensing their work immediately upon sale, and for both professional and amateur photographers, sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform. KODAKOne platform provides continual web crawling in order to monitor and protect the IP of the images registered in the KODAKOne system. Where unlicensed usage of images is detected, the KODAKOne platform can efficiently manage the post-licensing process in order to reward photographers. The ICO will take place on January 31, 2018 and is open to accredited investors from the U.S., Canada and other select countries. The coin will be called KodakCoin.
investment in photography firm Kodak soared by 50 % after the company said it is to launch an initial coin offering ( ICO ) on 31 march . according to a statement , Kodak will launch a blockchain - based platform offering an " encrypted , digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers to register both new and archive work that they can then acquire within the portfolio " , as well as a digital currency called KodakCoin . The platform is open to investors from US , Canada and other countries . The new platform is intended to help photographers manage rights in their images .