Development of Digital Copyright Licensing Frameworks Utilizing Blockchain Technology

Emerging technologies have made copyright licensing more complex and involved a broader range of stakeholders, disrupting the traditional balance between licensing and information sharing. At the same time, they have fostered innovation in licensing models to better support the dissemination of information. One promising approach to addressing the key challenges of copyright licensing in the digital era is the use of blockchain-based digital licensing. By examining blockchain through the lenses of its technological foundation, business applications, and new forms of production relationships, this paper explores how its core features—decentralization, trustlessness, traceability, and immutability—align with the needs of copyright licensing. It argues for the legitimacy of blockchain’s role in this domain, highlighting how decentralization supports the foundational goals of copyright licensing, how smart contracts align with established licensing procedures, and how blockchain enforces contractual obligations and equitably distributes benefits through consensus mechanisms. The paper proposes a blockchain-driven digital copyright licensing model that integrates decentralized registration and verification, smart contract-based rights allocation and management, and a redefined licensing marketplace.