Blockai, a blockchain copyright platform headquartered in San Francisco, has rebranded as “Binded” in an effort to emphasize on its objective to create a legally binding record, Techcrunch reported.

By creating a permanent record on the blockchain, Binded aims to simplify protecting intellectual property. In addition to rebranding, the startup has announced that it has raised an additional $950,000, bringing its total funding to $1.5 million.

Investors include Taizo Son’s Mistletoe, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Vectr Ventures, M&Y Growth Partners, Tokyo Founders Fund and Social Starts.

“Excited to announce that we've rebranded to Binded and raised $950k from some amazing investors to democratize copyright”, Blockai said in a statement.

Nathan Lands, Binded CEO, believes that bringing Japanese investors on-board is “is a step in the right direction” to become “the standard for copyright” globally.

In the U.S., creative work is copyrighted as soon as it is created. However, creators and artists need to register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office in case they need to file a lawsuit. Lands touts Binded’s platform as an intermediate step, which is less time-consuming and expensive than registration.

He went on to say that the core Binded product will “always be free.” The startup plans to add more services going forward which it could potentially charge for over time, like the ability to register with the Copyright Office.