[Block Festa 2026] "If AI writes content, who gets the compensation?…Content rights also on-chain"

[Block Media Reporter Oh Soo-hwan] It has been predicted that the importance of data usage rights and revenue distribution will increase as artificial intelligence (AI) agents directly utilize content such as news and research materials. There is also an analysis that tokenization could expand beyond financial assets to various rights related to content and subscriptions.

At the 'Block Festa 2026' panel discussion held on the 1st at the IFC The Forum in Yeouido, Seoul, researchers Ahn Kwang-ho from Tiger Research, Leo Wong, head of Access Protocol for the Asia-Pacific region, and Jeong Yoon-jae, head of business development (BD) at Access Protocol discussed the next steps for tokenization and the content economy in the era of AI agents.

The panelists noted the possibility that the scope of tokenization could expand from digitizing existing financial assets to assetizing rights arising from content and community activities. By recording subscriptions, creator sponsorships, and user participation histories, which have been recorded only within platforms, on-chain, users can directly hold or transfer their rights.

Leo Wong, head of Access Protocol for the Asia-Pacific region. Photo = Block Media

Wong pointed out that in existing content platforms, even when users pay for access, they often only gain access rights provided by the platform. He explained that moving this to on-chain allows users to directly hold their participation records and rights without being dependent on a specific platform.

He stated, "For assets to evolve into capital, users must first be able to actually own them. Then, they must be able to create new value, and also have transferability and liquidity."

A clear ownership was identified as the most important condition in this process. Even if content or community participation is tokenized, if it is not clear who holds what rights, it will be difficult to lead to transactions and valuations.

Wong emphasized, "Ownership must always be the foundation. If ownership is not clear first, it is difficult to build trust."

Researcher Ahn also believed that clarifying rights and revenue distribution is more important than creating the tokens themselves. He explained that determining what rights users and creators have and how the generated revenue is shared is essential for developing a sustainable market.

He said, "The token itself is not important. What matters is how the system can sustain itself, how clear the rights are, and how the revenue is shared."

The discussion continued to the point that these issues could become even more important if AI agents emerge as the main subjects of content consumption. This is because AI can repeatedly utilize small units of information contained in news, research materials, and videos, unlike a person who buys an entire piece of content.

Ahn Kwang-ho, researcher at Tiger Research. Photo = Block Media

Researcher Ahn stated, "AI can repeatedly use very small pieces of information. If AI agents use content and data from news, research materials, and videos, there needs to be compensation for that."

He noted that if AI becomes a subject of economic activity, it will be necessary to address not only payments but also data ownership, usage rights, and revenue distribution. Leaving a record of content usage on-chain and distributing compensation to creators accordingly could also become a new use case.

Access Protocol is applying this to the creator economy. Users stake ACS tokens to access content and support creators, aiming to transform users from mere subscribers into stakeholders who continuously participate in the creator's activities.

Wong stated, "In a subscription model, users remain customers, but we want to make users stakeholders. They can support creators they like while participating in the growth process of those creators."

The Korean content market was also identified as a major application target. Given the development of the creator industry in webtoons, music, and media, there is significant potential to apply on-chain based content models.

Wong remarked, "Korea has a very large creator business market. We are interested in enabling more creators such as artists, writers, media personnel, and singers to participate."

The panelists ultimately believed that the success of tokenization depends more on whether it can create actual rights and revenues rather than how many subjects can be tokenized. The rights of creators and users must be clear, and there must be a process for actual revenue to be generated and returned to participants.

Researcher Ahn emphasized, "What is more important than tokens is how the system sustains itself and how revenue is shared," stressing the need to see whether tokenization leads to actual economic activity.

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