{"id":9392,"date":"2024-05-03T23:05:35","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T23:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legerly.com\/?p=9392"},"modified":"2024-05-03T23:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T23:05:35","slug":"how-do-smart-contracts-support-nft-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legerly.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/03\/how-do-smart-contracts-support-nft-books\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Smart Contracts Support NFT Books?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Diving into the realm of Web3 is like stepping into a whirlwind of jargon, with complex terms swirling around like confetti at a child’s birthday party. One such is the \u201csmart contract\u201d, a seemingly arcane concept that serves as the building block for everything Blockchain-related, pun unintended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in truth, smart contracts can be just the solution the publishing industry needs to solve many of its ongoing issues: piracy, problematic digital rights management, and IP conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can we combine smart contracts and Blockchain technology to improve the publishing industry, and even support NFT books?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I daresay there are many ways to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But first, let\u2019s learn how smart contracts actually work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simply put, smart contracts are computer programs that automatically execute and enforce the terms of an agreement or contract when certain conditions are met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you think about it, they\u2019re not too different from real-life contracts. They serve as a self-executing intermediary to enforce an agreement. As they\u2019re directly written into the code, they run exactly as programmed without any manual intervention. Once deployed on a blockchain, a smart contract will do as programmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When every action and condition is transparently recorded on the blockchain, and visible to all parties involved, accountability and trust in digital transactions increase. NFTs have an inherent effect of causing distrust in those who don\u2019t know much about them, (and unfortunately, in many who do delve into them and get burned by scammers), but that\u2019s partly caused by the decentralized trait of the Web3 community. If they are to be integrated with the publishing industry, I believe a pure Web3 approach would cause more harm than good, and it wouldn\u2019t be as readily accepted by writers or readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hybrid approach could work better, one where NFTs are integrated side by side with traditional books. In this scenario, smart contracts would pave the way for a future where agreements are not only binding but also immutable, ensuring that the rules of engagement are clear, fair, and upheld without question, whether used for NFT books or their traditional contemporaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, why use them if the traditional publishing industry doesn\u2019t seem to need them so far? Think twice, for many of the traditional publishing and self-publishing literary industries have some glaring issues, like these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite authors’ best efforts to safeguard their works, pirates brazenly upload and distribute books without permission, depriving creators of their rightful earnings and undermining the integrity of the publishing ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider the frustration of an author who discovers their meticulously crafted novel freely available on countless illicit websites, accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Not only does this erode the author’s potential revenue stream, but it also diminishes the perceived value of their work, as readers become accustomed to accessing content without compensating its creators. Moreover, piracy undermines the efforts of legitimate publishers and self-publishing platforms to maintain quality standards and uphold copyright protections, creating a climate of uncertainty and mistrust among authors and readers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enter smart contracts, the digital knights in shining armor poised to combat piracy’s insidious grip on the literary landscape. By leveraging blockchain technology, smart contracts offer authors and publishers a powerful tool to defend against unauthorized distribution and ensure that creators receive fair compensation for their work. Imagine a scenario where every digital copy of a book is linked to a unique NFT (non-fungible token), representing its authenticity and ownership. When a reader purchases a copy of the book, the smart contract automatically verifies the transaction, securely transfers the payment to the author or publisher, and updates the ownership record on the blockchain. Should someone attempt to pirate the book and distribute it illegally, the smart contract acts as a digital watchdog, flagging unauthorized copies and preventing further dissemination. This not only safeguards the author’s intellectual property rights but also cultivates a culture of respect for creative endeavors, where content creators truly rewarded for their contributions to the literary world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the traditional and self-publishing industry, one existing concept that could be correlated to smart contracts and NFTs in Web3 is the concept of rights management and royalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n