OCL unveils Totem at PRS for Music

Following fast on the heels of our work with JAAK and BitFury last month we hosted a showcase with OCL of their latest prototype ‘Totem’, a solution aimed at the issue of monetising and tracking User Generated Content (UGC).

Following fast on the heels of our work with JAAK and BitFury last month we hosted a showcase with OCL of their latest prototype ‘Totem’, a solution aimed at the issue of monetising and tracking User Generated Content (UGC).

“Out there is the next Snapchat or Facebook and we want to make sure that there is an easy solution for them to be licensed from the very beginning.” 

OCL are a startup founded by PRS for Music member Rupert Hine, and technologist Alan Graham, aimed at making “copyright compatible” through the use of new tech that makes it easier to do the right thing. The idea of Totem is to provide rights owners with control of the usage of their works, and the ability to ensure payment, “while simultaneously allowing citizens to create all the wonderful works of User-Generated Content we love”. A core, key, aspect of OCL’s solution is that it does not impinge on or cannibalise current platform licensing, instead targeting the next generation of apps and platforms.

Monetising and tracking UGC has long been a thorn in the side of the creative industries, especially when multiple different works are combined and uploaded online across a constantly changing environment of platforms and applications. Totem is interesting because it is putting forward solutions designed to direct consumer behaviour towards a market that promotes full and fair value for the usage of creative works.

To find out more about OCL’s plans visit their website here.

Written by

Dan Fowler