Blockchain Artwork Management for Unauthorized Use Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital rights management (DRM) techniques restrict unauthorized use of digital artwork but compromise accessibility, potentially harming the rights of the artist and limiting the artwork's availability.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing a blockchain network to detect and record purchase transactions of digital artwork, allowing for the detection of unauthorized use and reporting such incidents while maintaining accessibility through watermarking and feature value analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If DRM technique is used to restrict reproduction of digital image, then copyright protection is improved, but accessibility to artwork is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a blockchain network as an intermediary to verify artwork ownership and usage rights. Instead of directly restricting access through DRM, the system uses blockchain to record and verify purchase transactions, allowing legitimate users to access artwork while preventing unauthorized use. The blockchain acts as a trusted mediator that enables both protection and accessibility simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the blockchain network continuously verifies usage of artwork against recorded purchase transactions. When unauthorized use is detected, the system can respond by preventing further access or notifying rights holders. This real-time feedback loop maintains copyright protection while allowing legitimate access to proceed uninterrupted.
2Reliability
If unauthorized use is restricted through DRM, then copyright holder's rights are protected, but the artwork's availability and accessibility are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain network serves as an intermediary layer between copyright protection mechanisms and artwork distribution. It records purchase transactions and usage rights without directly controlling access, allowing the artwork to remain widely available while establishing a verifiable chain of ownership. This separates the protection function from the distribution function, maintaining both rights protection and artwork availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the copyright protection function from the artwork delivery function. Protection is achieved through blockchain-verified ownership records, while delivery occurs through normal digital distribution channels. This segmentation allows artwork to be freely accessible to authorized users without the burden of restrictive DRM on the delivery mechanism itself.
3Measurement precision
If blockchain network is used to verify purchase transactions, then unauthorized use detection is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain network performs multiple functions simultaneously: it records purchase transactions, verifies artwork ownership, detects unauthorized use, and provides a timestamped audit trail. By using a single multi-functional platform, the system achieves high detection accuracy without proportionally increasing complexity, as the blockchain's core consensus mechanism handles all these tasks uniformly.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain network is self-sufficient in verifying artwork usage rights without requiring additional complex verification systems. Once purchase transactions are recorded on the blockchain, the network autonomously validates subsequent usage attempts against these records. This self-service capability reduces the need for external verification infrastructure, maintaining relatively simple system architecture while achieving precise unauthorized use detection.
Data Source
AI summary
An artwork management method executed by one or more computers is provided. The artwork management method includes detecting, by a first computer included in the one or more computers, artwork included in a website, determining, by the first computer, whether or not a purchase transaction indicating purchase of the artwork detected is recorded in a blockchain network, and transmitting, by the first computer, a report indicating discovery of unauthorized use of the artwork, in a case where the first computer determines that the purchase transaction is not recorded. According to one aspect, the artwork management method suppresses illegal use of artwork while maintaining accessibility of the artwork.