KODAK looks like it's doing a "Long Blockchain" move and it's stock soared. It was not actually Kodak itself who had the idea, but a company called WENN Digital that wants to use the Kodak brand to launch an ICO. From what I understand they want to develop a digital content rights platform on the blockchain, an idea that others have already thought about. This is nothing new.
Kodak had this to say about the platform called KODAKOne:
"With KODAKCoin, participating photographers are invited to take part in a new economy for photography, receive payment for licensing their work immediately upon sale, and for both professional and amateur photographers, sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform."
WENN Digital, in partnership with Kodak, is the creator of the KODAKOne platform and the KODAKCoin cryptocurrency.
The Kodak trademark, logo and trade dress are used under license by WENN Digital.
The hype here is the use of the Kodak brand to entice photographers to get in on it. Now I see that some people are already under the impression that every photographer is gonna go out there and get some KODAKCoin, but the stuff it can do is already being done in a certain way by other companies like stock photo websites. Photographer content is secured, but not on a blockchain. Does securing content require a blockchain for photography have any benefit? Yes, there are benefits. There are other ICO's that offer the same idea and even more. Secured digital content by a photographer, when secured on the blockchain, cannot be copied or downloaded if encrypted with DRM. This will also incentivize content for photographers allowing them to earn KODAKCoin or whatever cryptocurrency platform they are using. Will people, the market for the content, be willing to pay for photographer's content? I think that a more practical way is based on the Instagram model of getting likes or upvotes that determine a content's value. That is what they are trying to do here, add value to the content. That way the photographer earns something for showing their content, which does feel good knowing that there are people who appreciate the work. Token sales for KODAKCoin start January 31, 2018.
There is more info on their website http://kodakcoin.com
Note: All opinions expressed are the author's and does not represent that of anyone else.