Story onramps intellectual property to the blockchain, much like USDC is an onramp for fiat. For an onramp to work, simply creating the on-chain asset is not enough; there must be a connection between the real-world asset and the on-chain asset. USDC, for example, connects the financial system with smart contracts by backing each on-chain USDC token with one US-dollar. This way, USDC retains its peg to the underlying currency. From there, 99.9% of financial transactions are fully on-chain, but the guaranteed fiat conversion provides a backstop.

Similarly to USDC, Story bridges a real-world asset to smart contract code: intellectual property, a multi-trillion asset class that’s arguably the biggest in the world. The tool that bridges the real world asset (IP) with its on-chain tokenization (IP Asset) is the Programmable IP License (PIL), a universal license agreement template that is easy-to-use and highly customizable - think of it as a Y-Combinator SAFE for your IP. The gateway is bi-directional, since it can be used to register creative work that is already tokenized (e.g. an NFT), tying the on-chain asset back to the real-world legal system.

On a high level, the Programmable IP License (PIL) is a universal license agreement template that bridges real world IP with its on-chain tokenization (IP Asset). The PIL is to intellectual property what fiat is to USDC: It provides a backstop to the on-chain asset, allowing to onramp intellectual property to the blockchain. It’s not only easy-to-use, but also highly customizable. Think of it as a Y-Combinator SAFE for your IP.

On an implementation level, the PIL is a single legal framework, using US copyright law, that allows IP owners to set rules for permissionless licensing, commercialization and remixing of their original creations. It includes a set of parameters that can be defined by the IP owner. While designed for close integration with Story’s smart contracts, it can be used by any party - including Web2 services - as a standard agreement.

The protocol and the license work closely together. The parameters outlined in our license are enforced on-chain via Story, bridging code and law. By doing so, we unlock the benefit of transparent, autonomous, and permissionless smart contracts for the world of intellectual property. The PIL is implemented in Story as the default licensing template, with every user free to choose their own terms for their IP Asset.

Creators can attach PIL terms to their IP Asset after registering it on our experimental playground (running on Sepolia), while developers can attach the particular PIL terms with a single SDK call, for example registerCommercialUsePIL.

The PIL is a universal license agreement that creators can tailor to their specific needs. To simplify onboarding and usage, the PIL comes with a few out-of-the-box standard pre-configurations to get creators and builders started within minutes:

• Non-Commercial Social Remixing

  Allows others to remix your IP into their work and distribute the remix everywhere. Any reselling of your original work or commercializing the remix, however, is not allowed.

• Commercial Use

  This option lets others purchase the right to use your creation for a price that you set. They can display or publish the work in any medium, but they may not resell your original work or create remixes of the commercial use.

• Commercial Remix

  Similar to the commercial use option, you can set a price for the right to use your work. Others may create remixes and distribute them anywhere. You can specify a percentage of commercial revenue share.

For highly specific use cases, developers can develop their own license terms by attaching and parameterizing a custom licensing agreement.