No. 15: Thoughts on proof.
I am struck by blockchain technology and the endless applications that keep appearing. For me, the most notable and important aspect of blockchain is the proof of concept or proof of existence. The absolute ability to mark one's creativity in a way that can always be linked back to the author or creator. In the recording industry, for the uninitiated and unsolicited musician (whatever that really means), an anecdotal method has always been to send your recordings to yourself in an envelope. Once received, complete with postmark, the envelope is deposited in a safe place - often the bank - where it is marked as received, giving one the unquestionable proof of when the work was created. A nice concept.
In reality. It doesn't work and to my knowledge never has. In practice, let's assume your particular piece of work is plagiarized and shared publicly. All very infuriating. As the content creator- in this case music- you decide to seek justice for the blatant theft of your creation. Only problem is - how do you do that? Well, the legal system is invariably the answer. You must take the infringer to court. Only, on your minimum wage part-time income, and cash-in-hand payments from your bar gigs; this is a complete fantasy. And even, in the unlikely event that you could afford to get close to a courtroom, the multi-million dollar company backing the plagiarized work will ensure that you run out of cash before any sort of justice is served; likely before you even manage to state the case in the first place.
So, does that change with blockchain?
Yes and no. The internet has given us the ability to share publicly, for free. This, in theory, gives the majority a voice, albeit still a regulated one. In the eventuality of intellectual property being stolen - we can shout to publicly through social media for justice. An example of this would be Jason Aldean's release "You Make it Easy". The song, cited as being written by FGL and Morgan Wallen, was released around May 2018. An unknown songwriter, Connor Shaw, alleged through Twitter that his song had been stolen and provided some proof of this in a thread. The proof was a series of text messages between himself and a friend who was involved in Aldean's publisher and a recording of the song from 2015. He sends the song to the friend and low and behold, several months later, a version of it appears. Connor's song "Easy" is definitely similar and in court, well I suppose he would have a case; if he had the resources to seek this recourse.
Now, the proof is pretty compelling. A recording that predates the release and a series of messages. What would happen if you added a proof of concept to that? Well it would certainly boost his case but it still doesn't do anything about his ability to seek damages through the legal system. So, my question is as follows; is having a proof of creation through the blockchain any more useful to content creators; if they are still inhibited by a legal system that can be bought by the highest bidder?
I suppose only time will tell. Overall, blockchain can give us inalienable proof and for that, I am an advocate. However, there is certainly a long way to go.
For those of you who are interested in Connor Shaw's story; you can read more about this on his Twitter feed and make the decision for yourself.
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