Protection and monetization of digital IP has long been one of the most promising areas for Web3 disruption, offering to better protect IP while returning more value to creators. Development to date has focused on leveraging the capabilities of NFTs to introduce digital scarcity while using smart contracts to better enforce the distribution of royalties. Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that no solution has yet proven compelling enough to attract significant adoption from the established creator economy, which was reported by Goldman Sachs GS
in 2023 to be worth around $250 billion.
The bear market of the last two years has undoubtedly played a part, with Crunchbase stating that funding for Web3 projects “cratered” by 74% year over year in 2023, making it more difficult for projects to advance their roadmaps.
However, over the same period, a new threat to the creator economy has emerged: The growing prevalence of AI-based tools. With a new bull market now underway, has the moment arrived for Web3 creator tools?
A Sea Change For Creators
AI is a double-edged sword that has the potential to both make and break the burgeoning creator economy. Generative AI paves the way for a new wave of creators and modes of creation; however, the human ramifications could be significant. Traditional creators, including the New York Times NYT
, are already mounting lawsuits over the unfair use of their work to train algorithms. Plus, there’s the impending risk that human creativity could get drowned out by a wave of AI-generated content.
There’s also the question of monetization. Each successive wave of digitalization tends to strip value from creators, leading to concerns that the rise of AI will further erode the ability of creatives to monetize their work.
While many are still debating the scale of the AI threat, creators are seeking any solution to better protect their work and future earning opportunities, while regulators and policy hawks are keen to see more transparency in AI-generated content. The fact that this is an election year in dozens of countries where AI-based content is already playing a headline role also adds a political and democratic imperative to the equation.
Reigniting The Web3 Creator Fire
The new bull market in crypto is now giving fresh impetus to projects and investors who understand the opportunity for Web3-based creator tools but have been waiting for the right time to move into the market. Korea’s largest VC firm, Hashed, recently put the creator economy and protection of intellectual property at the top of its 2024 call for startups, and the theme will be central to this year’s Korean Blockchain Week (KBW). The flagship KBW: Impact conference event is organized by FACTBLOCK and co-hosted by Hashed.
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I reached out to Simon Kim, CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed, who shared, “We foresee that integrating content into Web3-based creator applications will enhance user retention and drive sustainable growth, fundamentally transforming the overall user experience. The progression of AI technology will be a catalyst in accelerating this trend, further bridging the gap between innovative content creation and blockchain technology. Blockchain is a pivotal force in redefining the landscape of content creation, offering novel pathways for IP management and monetization.”
Even AI Creators Need A Hand
Along with names such as a16z and Paris Hilton’s VC fund, Hashed also participated in last year’s $54 million round for Story Protocol, one of the standout successes in an otherwise flat funding year. Story Protocol is a “programmable IP layer” that aims to simplify the enforcement of rights, allow creative remixing, and streamline the monetization process for both original and subsequent creations while minimizing the operational barriers that often hinder the creative industry.
Perhaps somewhat paradoxically, the project recently made headlines thanks to a partnership that will allow user-generated AI models created on Ritual to be recorded and accredited to their creators with each use.
However, competition to capture the Web3 opportunity for the creator economy is rapidly heating up across the space.
In December, Web3 gaming giant Animoca Brands confirmed the company’s commitment to supporting the creator economy and advancing Web3 over the coming year. Although primarily known for its game portfolio, Animoca also operates an ed-tech platform that enables co-publishing rights for educational content, allowing creators to distribute monetized content directly to students. The CEO highlighted the lack of control and monetization opportunities for creators in the Web2 space.
From Piracy To IP Protection
Many might remember Limewire, perhaps best known as the scourge of noughties musicians. In 2007, the Electronic Frontier Foundation estimated that it was on one in three computers to obtain pirated MP3 files. However, the project recently launched a Web3 creator studio on Polygon MATIC
, initially focused on imagery but with plans to expand to music and audio files.
Users can access a range of AI tools to manipulate files or create new works. All creations are minted as an NFT NFT
on the Polygon blockchain, while royalties are paid out automatically based on the use or sale of the content. Ultimately, Limewire could go from being a facilitator of pirated music to a monetization tool for musicians: Quite the redemption arc, particularly so in this new era when the Web2 streaming model has evolved to hurt musicians’ revenues.
However, some are taking the royalty payments a layer deeper to mitigate future protocol risk. Projects including Enjin and Rarible have embedded royalty payment functionality into the blockchain programming itself, meaning that its application-agnostic and royalty payments should continue uninterrupted for as long as the blockchain is in operation.
As these developments are still in their infancy, it will be intriguing to see how they are received by a creator economy that’s grappling with the full impact of AI tools. However, the combined factors of a new bull market, AI’s opportunities and challenges, and the chance to better monetize and protect IP amid declining revenues on Web2 platforms mean that the timing for Web3 creator tools to make a strategic market entry could not be better.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
