Book publisher Bookshelf PH will begin offering non-fungible tokens (NFT) for its recently released e-commerce book “The E-Hustle: What the Country’s Best Digital Leaders Can Teach You About Launching and Growing Your Online Business.” By offering the new public domain as a service (PDaas) aims to democratize access to content before the expiry of copyright.

“While the public domain is extremely beneficial for great historical works, it has not usually been associated with modern writing,” Bookshelf said in a media release. “Such is unfortunate as recently published books may provide readers insight and information into current events, major trends, and relevant skills, but will not be accessible for a very long time.”

Copyright expiration in the Philippines is the date of the author’s death, plus 50 years.

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These NFTs will be auctioned on OpenSea, a marketplace for NFTs that has drawn significant attention on account of users transacting in such high volume and often large value for its digital art, collectibles, and other items.

The NFTs for “The E-Hustle” will also involve digital art, a holographic adaptation of the original chapter cover, which will belong exclusively to the purchaser, as well as a utility: One a person or group buys a particular chapter, Bookshelf PH will release it to the public domain, making it freely available for all Filipinos to read.

“Releasing E-Hustle into the public domain through an NFT can help exponentially more Filipinos make this leap, and then rapidly accelerate their growth,” said Ada Ortega, the managing editor of E-Hustle.

Apart from empowering digital entrepreneurship and social mobility in the Philippines, people who buy The E-Hustle NFTs will also unlock other benefits. Each purchaser will be credited as a presenting sponsor for the chapter before it is released into the public domain, ensuring that the supporting individual or group gets publicity as an e-commerce enabler in the Philippines.