The potential applications of blockchain-based technologies in the Video-on-Demand industry: a scenario analysis.
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- Nowadays, Video-on-Demand is the most common medium for watching movies and series. However, this sector suffers from many problems, notably the lack of transparency of copyrights, the difficulty of paying rights holders and online piracy. The blockchain is a solution that has been proposed for some years, in particular thanks to the transparency and immutability it offers. It allows the creation of applications such as centralized meta databases, smart contracts allowing authors to be remunerated, and digital right management systems allowing the use of protected works to be tracked more easily. In this exploratory master thesis, we first take a look at the Video-on-Demand industry and the applications offered by blockchain technologies. Then, in our empirical study, we analyze the feasibility of these applications and proceed to a scenario analysis to anticipate different futures for the VOD industry, all this with the help of interviews with different experts in the blockchain, media, and IP law sectors. The main insights that emerge from this analysis are that blockchain has the potential to make a real impact on the VOD sector, but that it has to overcome many obstacles in terms of scalability, security, interoperability, and legal aspects, and more generally, in terms of adoption by the regular consumer. An improvement in these areas, combined with a coordinated effort by the various stakeholders in the value chain, could make blockchain a dominant technology for copyright management in the movie & series streaming industry in the next five to ten years.