KodakONE Blockchain Beta Test Generates $1 Million

KodakONE, who is the developer of a blockchain-based image platform licensed by photographic industry giant Kodak, has reportedly generated over $1 million in licensing claims for image rights during a limited beta test of its platform.

The KodakONE Image Rights Management Platform is an image copyright protection, distribution, and monetization platform secured through the use of blockchain. While the project is not run by the Eastern Kodak Company itself, the industry stalwart has made RYDE Holding (formerly Wenn Digital) an official brand license.

When Kodak first announced it partnership with then-Wenn Digital, the company’s shares increased to a high of $13.25, with onlookers criticizing the move at the time as a bid to cash in on the ICO and blockchain hype.

RYDE, along with ICOx Innovations, has overseen the design and development of the KodakONE Platform and its KodakCoin token. The latter is an ERC-20 token, which also uses components of the Stellar blockchain as middleware. The KodakONE platform, on the other hand, uses a hybrid blockchain infrastructure with Ethereum, Hyperledger, and Stellar technology.

Last October, KodakONE launched its beta Post-Licensing Portal (PLP), which utilizes an intelligent web crawler and image recognition technology to enable rights holders to track their images and right infringements.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology enriches image data and can predict licensing value depending similar registered images, with the platform also allowing rights holders to license image usage retroactively, in a bid to turn infringers into lawful customers.

According to Chell, Kodak will take around $400,000 of the $1 million in revenue generated during the PLP beta.

In the future, the platform repeatedly aims to integrate the KodakCoin token for instant license settlement, as well as deploying smart contracts for license management at scale.

KodakONE co-founder Cam Chell said that within the current photographic industry, even professionals are only managing to collect licensing fees from 20 percent of the market at most, due to the prohibitive costs of manual management.

By harnessing the granular automation provided by smart contracts and blockchain, the platform reportedly attempts to monetize that remaining 80 percent.

KodakCoin was registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), using an installment called the Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT), which limits scale to accredited investors.