Media Producer Launches Blockchain Initiative with Government Backing

A Canadian media production firm with links to the Ontario government is seeking partners for a blockchain trial focused on tracking copyrights for audio-visual content.

Groupe Média TFO, which traces its history back to the 1970s as a maker for educational and cultural media, this week announced plans to develop a prototype that tracks copyrights and compensates creative works on a transparent blockchain platform.

Dubbed Blockchain TFO, the project is being billed as the first Canada-focused effort to apply blockchain tech to resolve issues around royalty payments between different parties, including broadcasters, producers and intellectual property holders.

The project is being supported financially by the Canadian Media Fund, a public-private initiative backed by both the federal government and the private cable broadcasting industry.

"As a public, education-focused company, we want to do our part to protect Canadian cultural works, including our own, as we expand their accessibility and visibility," Glenn O'Farrell, president and CEO of the media group, said in a statement.

Groupe Média aims to launch the prototype with participation from the industry's content producers and distributors. In its announcement, the group invited potential stakeholders to get in touch as it begins to flesh out how the prototype will be structured.

Movie clapperboard image via Shutterstock