Kodak emerged from its bankruptcy in 2013 by leaving its once-industry standard legacy behind, moving away from their traditional photography divisions and foraging paths into new markets while maintaining itself as a source for Hollywood’s film needs. Now, it’s launching a cryptocurrency in a partnership with Wenn Digital in an effort to get artists paid when their licensed work is used without permission.
Kodak won’t be using the popular Bitcoin for this venture, which was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show. Rather, it’s employing Etherum Project’s Ether as the currency. The tech behind it is called “blockchain,” which is used by owners of cryptocurrencies to keep track of their records. In this case, will be used by creators to establish ownership of their photos. The KodakCoin service will scan the internet, find licensed images being used illegally, and then seeks a payment for the photo.
“The partnership between Kodak and Wenn has the opportunity to protect the digital rights of photographers at a time when digitization has taken away artists’ abilities to make money. It does their monetization for them in a very easy, automated way.”
According to CNet, photographers will be paid 60 percent of any money received from the service, while Kodak and Wenn split the remaining 40 percent.
Since making the announcement, Kodak’s stock has nearly doubled.
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