Interrogating the ORA framework: implications of tokenized licensing in the cultural economy

Platformization and the development of generative AI (genAI) present profound challenges for professionals across the cultural and creative industries. Through the development of a technical prototype and an exploratory study of a licensing framework known as ORA (Ownership, Rights, and Attribution) this paper critically explores tokenized licensing as a socio-technical approach to empower cultural and creative professionals as they navigate these new trends and shifts in the cultural economy. Through a series of semi-structured interviews following a practical demonstration of the ORA framework, we examine the aspirations and pressing concerns across a diverse set of professionals working within the cultural and creative industries regarding the production, sharing, and consumption of digital media content. Additionally, we reveal the tensions that arise from those concerns and attempts to address them through either technical and/or socio-cultural means, and the implications this has for the future of work in securing and distributing value across a creative media supply chain.