Encoding of Media Value Chain Processes Through Blockchains and MPEG-21 Smart Contracts for Media

This article describes the combination of the current set of MPEG-21 multimedia framework standards with distributed ledger technologies and smart contracts. Their gathering shapes the smart contracts for media, a specification that can be used to encode the terms and conditions of a contract for media-related delivery and consumption. We provide the implementation of a system based on the smart contract for media to enable the twofold process of reducing the complexity of contract terms compliance validation and making stakeholders more aware of the media value chain. We also provide the technical details for a video-on-demand services use case in which the exploitation of media rights is modeled through the MPEG-21 framework and the smart contract for media. Finally, we perform an evaluation of our smart contracts implementation by analyzing the gas cost. Results suggest the viability of our approach.