Digital Catapult creates open source permissions platform to track creative IP

The Digital Catapult, together with the Copyright Hub, has created an open source permissions platform that will help people in the creative industries track where and when their content has been used.

The platform, which is built on open source technology, works by performing machine-to-machine transactions and queries for digital creations across industries.

Andrew Carr, chief operating officer at the Digital Catapult, described its launch at May 2016’s Code Creators Summit as a “significant moment for the digital creative industry”.

“Until now, there has been no standardised way of communicating efficiently between the content creator, broker and seller, with each party speaking its own language,” he said.

“In today’s social media age, where every 60 seconds, 300 hours of YouTube video are uploaded and 216,000 new photos are posted on Instagram, there is an even greater need for a standardised method of communication to help content creators manage their digital creations and have clear visibility of how, and when, they’re being used by other parties,” said Carr. 

The creative industries contribute £9.6m per hour to the UK economy, but often the people creating the content are unable to track where their work is being used. This prevents them from achieving the full revenue potential of their creations.

The platform aims to help all parts of the industry track digital assets for the creators. For brokers, it will act as a mechanism to “absorb all digitally trackable assets into one unified technical system”. It will also give users a standardised method for identifying copyright and permissions.

Michael Collins, director at i-Publishing Consultants, said the platform would shake up the licensing of intellectual property.

“Our work with the Copyright Hub and open source technology has already enabled us to build the Creative Licensing managed service, which streamlines licensing processes, generates wider use of imagery online, measures image use and helps to free the creators to focus on what they do best,” he said.

Digital Catapult is funded by Innovate UK and was set up in 2013 to drive growth in the digital economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .