Can the blockchain fix digital copyright and will regulation be required?

自互联网出现以来，艺术家们一直在努力保护他们的在线作品，而数字媒体的激增导致这类作品的价值急剧下降(杰克逊，2018年)。创意产业中层层的中介机构确保了支付给艺术家的最终报酬的减少(Tapscott&Tapscott 2017)，尽管互联网解放了信息，但它对改变许多先前存在的中央集权组织，即政府和大公司几乎没有起到什么作用(Wright&de Filippi 2015)。区块链提供了一成不变的真理记录，而且，由于信任对数字经济至关重要，它是一个安全可靠的大规模协作平台，为新型组织和社会提供了许多可能性(Tapscott&Tapscott 2016 p33)。特别是，它有能力给数字版权带来革命性的变化：通过提高创作者的许可效率和自主权，减少对中间商的需求，它有可能扰乱当前的商业模式，使内容创作者能够保护、控制他们的创意作品，并从他们的创意作品中获得更多利润(Bodo 2018)。区块链的底层分布式分类账技术(DLT)支持开发新的治理系统和分散自治组织(DAO)以及智能合同(Wright&de Filippi 2015 1)，创建了一个更灵活、更公平的交互空间，用户可以在其中充当集体中间人，通过共享的分散数据库和自动化软件管理自己的事务(Wright&de Filippi 2015 19)。DLT使任何有价值的东西，如音乐或艺术品，都可以安全私密地移动和存储，其中信任不是通过流媒体服务等强大的中介机构建立的，而是通过大规模协作和代码建立的(Tapscott&Tapscott 2017)。智能合同是数字的、可计算的合同，合同条件的履行和执行自动发生，不需要人工干预(Nick Szabo 2006)。它们使用源代码起草，可以标准化并几乎免费执行，从而使合同民主化并显著加快合同的执行(Wright&de Filippi 2015 24)。本研究将运用社会法律的方法，分析DLT对数字版权的影响，并强调可能出现的法律挑战。定性的实证研究将从参与创意产业区块链技术的个人的角度考虑当前的版权问题，并探索当前法规在该领域内是如何被感知和实践的。研究将考虑现行法律是否能够适应不断变化的技术格局，或者是否需要新的监管或全新的思维方式，以支持区块链发展、促进创新、确保公平的薪酬和促进数字创意环境中的公平竞争环境。

Since the inception of the internet, artists have struggled to protect their online endeavours and the proliferation of digital media has created a steep decline in the value attributed to such works (Jackson 2018). Layers of intermediaries in the creative industries ensure a reduction in the final payment to the artist (Tapscott & Tapscott 2017) and whilst the internet has liberated information it has done little to transform many of the pre-existing centralised organisations i.e. governments and large corporations (Wright & De Filippi 2015). The blockchain provides an immutable record of truth and, as trust is crucial to the digital economy, a platform for secure and reliable mass collaboration, which holds many possibilities for a new kind of organisation and society (Tapscott & Tapscott 2016 p33). In particular, it has the power to revolutionise digital copyright: by increasing the licensing efficiency and autonomy of creators and reducing the need for intermediaries it has the potential to disrupt current business models and enable content creators to protect, control and profit more from their creative works (Bodo 2018). Blockchain's underlying Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) enables the development of new governance systems and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) together with smart contracts (Wright & De Filippi 2015 1), creating a more flexible and fairer interactive space where users can act as collective middlemen administering their own affairs through a shared decentralised database and automised software (Wright & De Filippi 2015 19). DLT enables anything of value e.g. music or art, to be moved and stored securely and privately, where trust is not established by powerful intermediaries such as streaming services but through mass collaboration and code (Tapscott & Tapscott 2017). Smart contracts are digital, computable contracts where the performance and enforcement of contractual conditions occurs automatically, without the need for human intervention (Nick Szabo 2006). Drafted using source code they can be standardised and executed at nearly no cost, thereby democratising and dramatically speeding up the execution of a contract (Wright & De Filippi 2015 24). Using a socio-legal approach, this research will analyse the impact of DLT on digital copyright and highlight legal challenges that may arise. Qualitative empirical research will consider current copyright issues from the point of view of individuals involved in blockchain technology in the creative industries, and explore how the current regulations are perceived and practised within the field. The research will consider whether current laws are capable of adapting to the changing technological landscape or whether new regulation or a totally new way of thinking is required in order to support blockchain developments, foster innovation, ensure fair remuneration and promote a level playing field in the digital creative environment