Creators With Contents On Arweave Get Freedom To Determine Usage Terms, Get Incentives With UDL
In the digital age data, codes and contents are crucial for innovation. Over the years, these resources have served as building blocks for generations of the internet and as time goes by, they will determine the pace of the development of technology of the future including Web3 and artificial intelligence.
Although these resources have made enormous impact, many have observed drawbacks in how they are used. Depending on the platform the contents are uploaded, creators sometimes find it difficult to monetise it. Even when they can monetise, they lack the freedom to fix their desired rate. Content creators are increasingly losing control over how their content is used - a problem that occurs across platforms, including Web3.
Arweave, a blockchain which does with data what Bitcoin does with crypto, said it had created a solution to these challenges. On Arweave, users can store data for 200 years in a one-time payment arrangement. The solution, Universal Data Licence (UDL) which was released in beta, allows users to atomically embed a programmable and legally enforceable licence inside any type of data uploaded to Arweave and generate income from royalty.
From early days, with mission to fight fake news and data manipulation with data permanence, Arweave has used the power of blockchain to help individuals and projects store data permanently. Along with that, it facilitated initiatives that uploaded records of events that have global importance on the permaweb where individuals, people and government with malicious intent cannot change or erase it.
David Kong, technical communications at Forward Research, a research and development incubator for Arweave told Permaweb News, innovations in the Arweave ecosystem are progressing at an astounding rate. A truly decentralised creator economy needs proper rails for content monetisation and licencing is a central component.
We see Universal Data Licencing as solving key problems for all parties, allowing a wide variety of content-focused apps to scale and thrive on the permaweb, Kong said.
There are millions of files stored on Arweave, including NFTs, codes and media contents. Forward Research said UDL would allow users access to quality contents that interest them, adding that it removes the challenge of ‘cold start’ when building new applications. The custom tag feature ensures flexibility for content creators and allows developers to easily search for content.
On plans to promote the adoption of UDL, Kong said the product will interoperate with existing innovation in the ecosystem.
We expect that in the near future when all the pieces of the permaweb stack are finalised, it’s likely that we will see a very large number of new permaweb apps coming to market. We also focus lots of effort on education and awareness, so that new builders can get familiar with the tools that are available to them, he said.
The UDL has received positive responses from inside and out the Arweave ecosystem, suggesting that it indeed solves challenges and could get fast adoption by developers.
The CEO of WeatherXM, a community-powered weather network, Manolis Nikiforakis said UDL was awesome work and “close to what we need”. Art By City said it would build on UDL.
In terms of the value they offer to creators, we absolutely believe that permaweb apps have the potential to far exceed what is possible on centralised platforms today…It’s truly an exciting time to be a creator, Kong also said.
