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Kodak Could Earn $5 Million for ICO Brand Licensing Deal
Kodak licensed its brand out to WENN Digital for the KODAKCoin token, which could net the onetime photography giant between $2 and $5 million.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:42 a.m. Published Mar 16, 2018, 6:15 p.m.
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New details have emerged about Kodak's cryptocurrency licensing deal.
According to the company's 10-K annual report for 2017, published on March 15, the company was paid $750,000 in cash by WENN Digital, which is developing KODAKCoin and the related digital rights management platform.
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Additionally, Kodak received 50,000 shares of WENN common stock, which the report said was worth $1.25 million.
Further, Kodak is set to receive 3 million KODAKCoins following the completion of the yet-to-be-finished initial coin offering, which, as reported previously, was delayed (though a private pre-sale is said to be in progress). Those tokens will be valued one year after they are received, though the total assessed value will not exceed $3 million, according to the filing.
The payments will count as a form of upfront royalties, Kodak said, explaining in the filing:
"The cash, deemed value of the WENN stock, and deemed value of the Tokens serve as an advance royalty to be credited against sales-based royalties in the future … The advance royalty is non-refundable. No future sales-based royalty payment will be due until the advance royalty has been depleted."
Going forward, Kodak will receive 3 percent of any tokens issued by WENN if the total number of coins is greater than 100 million, according to the report.
In early February, the KODAKCoin team said the ICO was "moving full-speed ahead," even though "in light of the increased worldwide regulatory interest in ICOs," the project's backers were moving to ascertain the token sale's compliance with relevant regulations.
"This phase will last for a few weeks, after which we intend to sell KODAKcoins to eligible investors," the team said then.
Last week, the KODAKCoin team released a "light paper" that indicated there are still questions as to whether the regulators will ultimately classify the token as a security, which could lead to trading restrictions following its launch.
Kodak film cartridge image via Lenscap Photography / Shutterstock
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