A blockchain upgrade for movie rights

The Indian film industry has sailed through countless transformations since the first Indian film released in 1913.
Oracle Movies is easy to register with, assures Tirunavukarasu
Oracle Movies is easy to register with, assures Tirunavukarasu

Creative and commercial arts, fashion, media, gaming, sports…there has been a significant spike in the penetration of NFT (non-fungible tokens) into almost every industry since the pandemic. The latest sector to take the bite is Indian filmdom, with recent films like ‘83’ and ‘Kurup’ releasing their posters and videos in the NFT marketplace. Even actor Kamal Haasan partnered with a licensed online collectible platform to launch his digital avatars last November. Tapping on this increasing attention that the digital assets have been receiving and putting them to good use in the field of movie-making marketplace is Oracle Movies. Launched early this year, the Chennai-based platform claims to be the first of its kind in the country. 

A promising start

Founded by entrepreneur Senthil Nayagam and movie producer G K Tirunavukarasu, the platform allows film producers and companies to buy and sell movie rights through advanced and secure block chain technology. It ensures movie rights are stored on a decentralised file system, thereby giving the buyer true value and ownership of rights that is clearly traceable through block chain. 

Highlighting its benefits, Tirunavukarasu explains, “There is no central agency that keeps track of movie rights sold and the current system relies on paper contracts, which does not hold good for modern cinema. Creators are not aware of the law, their rights or how the system works either. This platform has three goals — transform the cinema industry from unorganised to an organised sector, encourage creators’ economy and increase transparency. This way, creators will have a regular income and have control over the rights they want to grant license to for a specific time period and still have the ownership.” 

The Indian film industry has sailed through countless transformations since the first Indian film released in 1913. The producers and creators have always encountered problems in areas of ownership assertion, improper registration protocol, tracking intellectual property rights, piracy, low profits from single screen films, troubles with content restoration and more. 

“The pandemic exacerbated the existing woes. Creators suffered from unreleased movies, low profits and poor deals with OTT platforms. Despite that, the value of the Indian film industry in 2020 was 183 billion. With this platform, we can mitigate the financial risk involved among various stakeholders. It will be a conducive marketplace for buyers to purchase movies, and a safe and secure environment for all stakeholders,” he details.  

Big plans

Besides offering an alternative revenue model, the platform has a list of problems that it intends to solve in the coming years. “Some of them are funding/ crowd funding to produce movies. Expanding market for regional language movies to subcontinent audience and Indian movies for non Indian origin across globe by dubbing, subtitling and proper promotions and access. Bringing content analytics and revenue sharing calculations for content creators. Introducing feasible systems and processes for small producers to reduce the risk of copyright violations and movie piracy,” he details.  

Oracle Movies will soon integrate RBI’s Central Bank Digital Currency — DigitalRupee — when it launches later this year in their blockchain application platform. 

“By now, people are aware of NFT, its working model and how much revenue it can bring. We’ve already received 500 movie submissions so far. Our website is user-friendly and direct for people to register with us to buy or sell the movie rights. It has a great potential and can be a sustainable business model if used wisely. We’ve signed up as NFT partners for a couple of upcoming films. There will also be an option for fans to buy specific scenes from the films of their favourite heroes,” suggests Tirunavukarasu. 

The platform is currently providing its services to Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English film producers and IP rights holders. It will soon be expanded to other languages across the country. 

For details, visit: oraclemovies.com

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com