On-chain intellectual property: The direction of the future

On-chain IP#

I just saw that Story raised $54 million, and it reminded me of this project. I had looked at it before, but it seems there hasn't been much news since. The main reason I'm writing this long article is that my master's research direction is in this field. So I want to briefly discuss it, but I'm not a law major; I just studied copyright law for my thesis and gained some understanding of the current situation.

What is Intellectual Property?#

A deep dive into intellectual property and its various subfields, particularly copyright, along with the rights and obligations associated with it. We will also discuss how these legal concepts operate globally.

Let's start with copyright and intellectual property. Copyright and intellectual property are actually more complex than you might think. Intellectual property is a collection of multiple legal concepts, including but not limited to copyright, trademarks, and patents. These legal concepts are used to prove the rights of creators. As an intellectual property owner, you can sell, transfer, or manage the rights under these legal concepts. Let's first discuss copyright.

Copyright: Copyright is a legal protection mechanism for creative works such as literature, art, and music. It grants creators exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, display, and modify their works, typically for a limited time.

In addition to copyright, there are other forms of intellectual property:

Trademark: A trademark is a word, graphic, or symbol used to identify the source of goods or services. It grants the owner exclusive rights to use that identifier to prevent confusion and unfair competition in the market.
Patent: A patent protects a novel and useful invention or improvement. The person or organization holding the patent has exclusive rights to produce, use, or sell the invention, usually for a certain number of years.
Trade Secrets: Trade secrets are undisclosed information that has commercial value and for which the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep secret. This can include manufacturing processes, customer lists, or special algorithms.

Copyright is a specialized area because artistic creation is quite different from commerce or invention, so we need to distinguish between them.

In the West, copyright is often described as "a bundle of rights," meaning that copyright is not a single legal concept but rather a collection of various rights. These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and adapt. Creators can grant these rights to third parties individually or in combination as needed, giving copyright great flexibility.

The reason copyright is diverse is that, within the larger legal framework of intellectual property, copyright is just one subset. However, this does not mean copyright is secondary or restricted. In fact, it is a very powerful "entity" in itself that can be used to achieve various legal and commercial goals.

In short, copyright is a legal mechanism used to identify and protect the rights of creators of works. We live in a world filled with various creative expressions, such as literature, art, music, and even software, so there needs to be a way to prove the originality and ownership of these works, which is the role of copyright. In addition to the basic rights of reproduction and distribution, copyright also grants creators other rights, such as adaptation and public performance, while also imposing certain specific limitations and obligations.

Fair Use: In certain specific circumstances, such as education, news reporting, commentary, and research, individuals have the right to use copyrighted works without prior permission. This is an important exception in copyright law.
Creative Commons: In addition to traditional copyright protection, there are more flexible licensing options, such as Creative Commons licenses, which allow creators to freely share their works and customize how others can use them to some extent.
Transfer and Licensing: Intellectual property owners can choose to transfer or license their rights to others. This usually requires formal legal documents and may come with certain obligations and restrictions.

Compared to other forms of intellectual property like trademarks and patents, copyright typically arises automatically and does not require registration (although registration can provide additional legal protection). Furthermore, different types of intellectual property may target different aspects of the same product or service. For example, software may simultaneously have copyright (for the source code) and trademark (for the brand name). Generally, intellectual property law has an international dimension.

International Agreements and Organizations: Many countries participate in international organizations and agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). These agreements set the most basic standards for intellectual property protection, but countries still have some latitude in implementation.
Regional Differences: Despite international agreements, there are significant differences in intellectual property laws across different countries and regions. For example, the "fair use" principle in the U.S. differs from the "reasonable use" principle in Europe.
Cross-Border Issues: In today's digital and globalized world, cross-border use and infringement issues have become increasingly complex. For instance, a trademark registered in the U.S. may not be protected in China unless it is also registered there.

Thus, through these laws, inventors can obtain patent protection, businesses can obtain trademark protection, and creators can obtain copyright protection.

Pain Points of the Copyright Framework#

Exploring the pain points of the traditional copyright framework: what are the pain points, why do they hurt, and why do we need reform?

Through the previous sections, we have a general understanding of what copyright and intellectual property are, as well as the subtle differences and applications of these concepts. This lays a solid foundation for the next topic we will explore—the existing problems of the copyright framework and how blockchain might become a solution. If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend reading Sebastian Pech's work "HOW BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE THE ADMINISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTED WORKS." This paper analyzes the shortcomings of the existing copyright system in detail and proposes a series of blockchain-based solutions.

Now, let's take a closer look at some of the main problems currently existing in the copyright system. These problems can generally be divided into five categories: issues of rights confirmation, fragmentation of copyright, opacity in usage and payment, unequal distribution of benefits, and infringement. These issues not only limit the rights of creators but also affect the entire value chain of copyright works, from production to consumption. In the following sections, we will explore these issues one by one and investigate how blockchain can provide viable solutions.

Issues of Rights Confirmation#

As mentioned earlier in the copyright section, "copyright arises automatically and does not require registration," but this automatic legal effect is relatively weak. At present, although the copyright registration process is gradually being simplified, the biggest challenge remains how to prove oneself as the original creator of a copyright work. Within the traditional legal framework, it often requires a large amount of documentation and third-party verification to establish proof, which is not only time-consuming but also significantly impacts multiple users. Infringers can freely use copyright or intellectual property before being penalized, which severely infringes upon the rights of true copyright holders and may affect their future sales and development.

Fragmentation of Copyright#

As mentioned earlier, copyright in the West is often described as "a bundle of rights." This means that copyright is not a single legal concept but consists of various rights. However, in the current copyright registration process, it is challenging to effectively separate the copyright subject from its ancillary rights (such as secondary creation, distribution, adaptation, etc.). While these ancillary rights can be held by different legal entities, fairly distributing the benefits among various rights holders becomes a challenge, often requiring complex arbitration and management by third-party organizations. A deeper exploration reveals that this is more of a technical issue. The current copyright management system can only manage single copyrights and struggles with the multidimensional realities, lacking flexibility.

Unequal Distribution of Benefits#

This issue mainly includes two aspects: the profit distribution between platform providers and copyright creators, and the profit-sharing issue between creators and secondary creators.

First, let's discuss the relationship between platforms and creators. Typically, the profit-sharing mechanisms of most creative platforms are quite harsh. For example, the profit-sharing mechanisms of Spotify and Apple Music have been widely criticized. This is also one of the reasons for the emergence of music NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which aim to return more profits to creators. Similar situations occur on platforms like Amazon Bookstore (covering both physical and e-books) and Qidian (online literature). These platforms often leverage their traffic advantages to "kidnap" creators, forcing them to sign unequal profit-sharing agreements.

Next, let's look at the profit-sharing issue between creators and secondary creators. This issue is particularly severe today, such as with the popular "Kichiku" videos on the Bilibili platform. These videos are often secondary creations based on an original video. However, when these Kichiku videos start to generate profits, the problem arises: do secondary creators have an obligation to share the profits with the original creators? Currently, such mechanisms are almost nonexistent. Most secondary creators do not proactively share profits with original creators unless they purchase secondary creation rights.

Infringement: A Thorny Issue in the Copyright System#

Infringement, plagiarism, and abuse are the three most challenging issues in the current copyright system. These actions not only harm the legal and economic rights of original authors but also expose the shortcomings of the existing copyright system.

Infringement: Authorization and Responsibility#

Infringement typically involves using someone else's copyrighted work without authorization or beyond the scope of authorization. This behavior infringes upon the legal rights of original authors and may cause them economic losses. Although the law has clear penalties, due to the difficulty of evidence collection and the complexity of cross-border enforcement, it is often challenging to hold infringers accountable in practice.

Plagiarism: Undermining Market Fairness#

Plagiarism is a special type of infringement that usually involves unauthorized copying or imitating someone else's work and passing it off as one's own creation. This not only infringes upon the rights of the original author but also severely undermines the fair competition environment in the creative market.

Abuse: Straying from the Original Intent#

Copyright abuse is often triggered by improper actions of rights holders, such as malicious litigation or exorbitant licensing fees to restrict the legitimate circulation of works. This behavior undermines the fundamental goal of the copyright system, which is to promote innovation and information sharing.

Clearly, these issues fundamentally stem from unauthorized use or behavior. So, despite the existence of strict intellectual property laws, why do infringement actions still occur frequently? On one hand, the internet, as an open platform, often makes it difficult to effectively track and enforce actions before infringement becomes widespread. On the other hand, the legal system is slow to respond to these issues, always lagging behind rapidly developing technology. These combined factors make infringement a persistent and complex issue that requires more comprehensive and efficient solutions. Finally, there is the issue of globalization; in the context of globalization and the internet, copyright issues have become increasingly complex. Different countries and regions have their own copyright laws, which complicates cross-border copyright enforcement. Despite international copyright treaties and agreements, such as the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement, infringers may still evade legal responsibility due to differences in legal implementation and interpretation.

Blockchain and Intellectual Property and Web3#

Before discussing the Story protocol, I want to talk about the relationship between blockchain and IP. Blockchain is inherently suitable for empowering IP.

The Application Potential of Blockchain Technology in Intellectual Property#

Since its inception, blockchain technology has garnered widespread attention across various industries. In the field of intellectual property, it is seen as a key technology that could change copyright management, patent protection, and brand rights protection.

The three core characteristics of blockchain—transparency, traceability, and immutability—provide powerful tools for intellectual property management. Particularly in China, blockchain applications related to intellectual property are rapidly emerging. Ant Chain's "China Copyright Chain" is a typical example, representing the immense potential of blockchain technology in ensuring copyright security, promoting creator rights, and simplifying copyright transactions. For instance, in the 2019 case where Douyin sued Baidu, blockchain technology was used for evidence collection.

But why is the combination of blockchain and intellectual property so close?

Rights Confirmation: In the digital age, the speed of content creation, distribution, and sharing is incredibly fast, making rights confirmation more difficult. However, blockchain technology provides a solution for this. It can provide an immutable timestamp for each piece of creative content, ensuring that the rights of the original creators are not infringed upon.
Transparency: In traditional intellectual property management systems, copyright information, transaction records, and authorization details often lack transparency. The openness and transparency of blockchain ensure that all transaction records are accessible to the public, thereby enhancing trust between copyright holders and users.
Traceability: In intellectual property infringement cases, tracing the source of rights and transaction paths is crucial. The continuity of blockchain technology ensures that every transaction, authorization, and transfer is permanently recorded, providing strong evidence for legal disputes.

In addition to these obvious advantages, blockchain has a more profound impact on the copyright field, which is the assetization of intellectual property (IP).

Traditional management methods often struggle to convert this abstract intellectual copyright into highly liquid actual assets. However, when we put these copyrights on-chain, these abstract rights can be transformed or "assetized." This is similar to the idea of dataFi, which aims to concretize abstract data or rights into actual, tradable assets. At the same time, we can explore more creative possibilities, such as pledging, lending, and fragmentation. These operations often require multiple legal contracts in the traditional web2 world, but through blockchain and DeFi, we can simplify these processes.

Based on this assetization idea, we can further explore three key mechanisms:

IP Tokenization: This is the process of converting intellectual property into tokens. Once tokenized, these tokens can be freely traded on the blockchain, providing a new and efficient platform for intellectual property transactions. This can be seen as a "reverse RWA" that maps digital world assets back to reality, forming real assets.
Application of Smart Contracts: Through smart contracts, we can automate many copyright-related processes, such as authorization and profit-sharing. This not only improves efficiency but also significantly reduces costs associated with manual management and legal processes. This automation and simplification help lower the barriers to property transactions, making them more widespread and convenient.
Peer-to-Peer Transactions: A core feature of blockchain is its support for peer-to-peer transactions, meaning transactions are not limited by geography or currency. As long as both parties agree, the transaction can proceed smoothly.

When we talk about smart contracts and blockchain technology, there is also a core goal of simplifying and automating traditional transaction and contract processes. The origin of this technology, as you mentioned, is to achieve a peer-to-peer trading system, thereby avoiding the intervention of intermediaries and additional costs. In the field of intellectual property, a significant barrier is the cumbersome document signing process associated with copyright transfer, authorization, and other related transactions. This is not only time-consuming but can also lead to legal disputes and misunderstandings in some cases.

On-chain signatures provide a solution. By using blockchain technology, especially tools like ethSign, both parties can directly sign contracts on-chain. This signature is encrypted, immutable, and can be publicly verified. This means that there is no longer a need for traditional, cumbersome document signing and verification processes; all transactions can be automatically and securely completed on-chain.

More specifically, when property is put on-chain, a contract based on wallet signatures can be attached. Thus, whenever someone wants to purchase, authorize, or engage in other transactions related to that property, they only need to use their wallet to sign, and the transaction can be automatically completed. This not only simplifies the transaction process but also ensures the security and transparency of the transaction.

Story Protocol#

In this section, let's talk about the Story Protocol. Although the impetus for writing this is not the Story Protocol, I thank them for giving me a push, especially thanks to Ming Story, Sleepy, and S.Y. Lee's tweets.

Here, I will focus directly on the technical aspects and discuss how network effects interact with intellectual property (IP). Recently, S.Y. quoted Chris Dixon's famous saying in a thread: "The killer app of the Internet is networks." I strongly resonate with this view. In this networked world, the core of every application is people—or more accurately, the nodes in the network. Similarly, if we consider each piece of intellectual property as a node, then these "IP nodes" could potentially form a vast network. However, the current intellectual property system seems not to have fully adapted to this networking trend. Specifically, the existing system has the following issues:

Lack of Transparency in Copyright: Rights holders often find it difficult to track the usage of their works.
Lack of Transparency in Rights: Similarly, rights holders also struggle to understand who holds what usage rights.

These two issues limit the effective operation of intellectual property in a networked environment. The complexity and multidimensional challenges, while primarily focused on legal aspects, indicate that intellectual property is actually a more complex topic. When we delve deeper, we find that this issue is far more complicated than it appears on the surface.

Since S.Y. previously created a web novel platform called Radish, he has conducted a series of discussions from the perspective of novel IP. I personally strongly agree with this direction, as I believe that literary works have excellent scalability and operability. However, there are several issues:

Low Infringement Costs: In the current environment, the cost of infringing on novel IP is very low.
Conflict Between Original and Secondary Creation: Currently, secondary creations rarely or never give back to original works. For example, on platforms like Bilibili and PEPE, we rarely see secondary creators respecting original authors.
The Double-Edged Sword of Open Networks: While the openness of the internet promotes the free flow of information, it also makes it more challenging for original authors to protect their works.

Again quoting S.Y.'s tweet, he elaborated on the love-hate entanglement between IP and platforms. In the previous chapter, we discussed the oppression between interests; the issue between platforms and IP begins with interests and ends with dissemination. The love-hate entanglement between the two is not just about interests. There is also the pressure of platform economics on the growth space of new IP. Existing content brands and IP face pressure from platform economics, as platforms can precisely control the exposure traffic of each brand's IP. New IP can only continuously optimize customer acquisition costs (CAC) to survive. Companies like Hollywood have been recycling old IP, constantly remaking them, because they fear the high costs of building new IP and can only spend their budgets on businesses that yield effective returns. (Quoting the story's tweet) The main reason for this is that content lacks network effects and must rely on huge content and marketing budgets to sustain itself. Upon careful consideration, from the traditional 2/8 rule, the fact that platform providers control traffic inevitably means that only a few top works will receive more exposure, while the remaining works can only rely on luck and fans to promote and publicize them. In other words, only a small portion of people will make money.

Summarizing the above points, the Story Protocol aims to solve distribution issues, protect authors' rights, and create a new system. So what exactly have they done? S.Y. interestingly mentioned a term: Git. For those unfamiliar with version control, it may seem a bit obscure. In a nutshell, Git is a distributed version control system. The core logic of creating an IP Git management system or IP Repo to achieve on-chain IP infrastructure is divided into two parts:

An on-chain IP library for storing IP, tracing distribution, recording on-chain, immutability, transparency, and traceability.
Composable IP modules that expand usage methods, allowing for more freedom and autonomy.

Before delving into the Story Protocol, let's first review Git, which is a crucial tool in traditional software development. The core functionality of Git lies in version management and team collaboration, addressing many challenges that development teams often encounter during collaboration. So how does this relate to intellectual property? As I mentioned earlier in discussing copyright, copyright is actually a collection of various rights. This means that different people may hold different subsets of rights—some may have secondary creation rights, some may have performance rights, and others may hold multiple rights. This bears a striking resemblance to Git's "version" concept. If we apply Git's logic to IP management, treating each IP as an independent repository (repository), and various rights as different branches (branch) or versions, then each IP not only enhances scalability, programmability, and traceability but also allows each "sub-version" to maintain its independence.

When IP transitions from an abstract entity to a concrete node, we can start to "play with Legos." Through modularization, IP gains more interesting and useful ways to operate. For example, co-creation, rights distribution, royalty distribution, and blockchain-based IPFi operations become increasingly feasible. This is a similar concept to the "data assetization" advocated in DataFi. By modularizing and encapsulating, we can add financial attributes to inherently difficult-to-quantify things, unlocking new business and creative models. In fact, to some extent, this makes it easier for us to manage IP and examine its use. Here are some thoughts combining the Story Protocol and the third chapter:

IP Building Blocks: Like Legos, different IP elements (such as characters, storylines, settings, etc.) can be designed as pluggable modules. This will allow creators, investors, or fans to combine these modules to create entirely new works or derivatives.
Dynamic Rights Management: Modular IP elements mean more flexible rights management. For example, one module might only contain "performance rights," while another might only include "publication rights."
Decentralized Co-Creation: Through blockchain or other distributed technologies, parties can collaboratively develop and improve IP modules without infringing on each other's rights.
Smart Contracts and Automated Royalties: Using modular design, smart contracts can automatically distribute royalties for works co-created by multiple creators.
Modular Financialization: Each IP module can be treated as an independent financial asset for trading, which not only increases liquidity but also provides funding for small creators.
Module Interoperability: Different IP modules can achieve interoperability, allowing characters from one novel to easily appear in another completely different movie or game.
Community-Driven IP Development: Fans or communities can choose or improve IP modules through voting or other mechanisms, making IP development more democratic and diverse.
Real-time Data Feedback: The usage of each module can be tracked through data analysis, providing creators with real-time feedback to optimize their creation or marketing strategies.

Currently, some concepts in articles based on the Story Protocol are somewhat vague. I feel that the concept of "network state" relies too heavily on users and ecology. We know that IP still has a significant problem: independence. A simple example is why we cannot see a combination of Harry Potter and Twilight; I am not referring to fan fiction, as that is not an orthodox creation method. The reason is that the original IP is independent and has its own storyline. Therefore, building such a network still relies on users and ecology. I believe the future of infinite literature may lie here. However, in doing so, I feel that the focus of the Story Protocol is not on originality but more on co-creation or secondary creation. This may also explain why the Story Protocol team describes IP as Git. Everyone can create their own variants based on original works, creating new stories, endings, and characters, and then merging characters from other IPs into infinite literature. I also strongly agree with what their team said: the current copyright framework is not conducive to the principles of network openness. Loose constraints may lead to new narrative methods.

Creader.io #

I will briefly discuss my previous thoughts, which, although immature, are still a form of contemplation.

The main reason I am writing this article is that my master's thesis focuses on research into on-chain copyright solutions, particularly in the literary field. Therefore, my understanding of this area may be deeper than that of the average person.

My core idea is to utilize a "NFT 套 NFT" model to achieve visual management of copyrights. In simple terms, this means creating an independent NFT for each associated right of copyright (such as distribution, performance, secondary creation, access rights, etc.). The main advantage of this approach is that it brings a high degree of flexibility and transparency to copyright management.

Let me explain the user flow in detail:

Registration and Cover NFT: Users first register on the platform, for example, by uploading a novel cover. The system then generates an NFT related to that cover for the user.
Creating Associated Rights NFTs: Only users holding a specific cover NFT can further create associated rights NFTs related to it.

The core idea of this framework is "rights decoupling." In traditional copyright management systems, although copyrights and their associated rights fall under the category of intellectual property, each right is treated as an independent entity. For example, a song may involve three different rights holders: the composer, the lyricist, and the recording company. In this case, each right may require independent contracts for licensing, sale, or other commercial activities. While this approach offers some flexibility, it also adds complexity to management. Through NFTs, we can separate and independently represent these rights, allowing each right to be traded and managed as an independent NFT.

Therefore, my proposal is to separate property owners from their rights and directly associate this relationship with property (i.e., NFTs). This way, users establish a connection with the property NFT and then create various associated rights through that NFT. The process can be simplified to: user → property NFT → associated rights NFT. Additionally, to ensure integrity and security, when users attempt to create associated rights NFTs, the system will verify whether they are the holders of the relevant property NFT.

NFTs and Property Rights#

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are currently widely associated with PFPs (Profile Pictures) or artworks, but their actual application potential goes far beyond that. From the original definition of NFTs, they are designed to represent ownership of digital or physical assets. In EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals), the definition of NFTs explicitly emphasizes their diversity, covering RWA assets, digital assets, and even liabilities. This means that the application scope of NFTs is much broader than the current general perception.

For example, Uniswap uses NFTs to store liquidity pool data, making user transactions more convenient; Greenfield, on the other hand, uses NFTs and the ERC-1155 standard to assetize data, giving data actual economic value. These examples showcase the powerful potential of NFTs as containers for data and assets.

Further reflection reveals that the true value of NFTs may lie in the simplification they bring to asset management and trading. Traditional asset trading and management, especially in copyright and intellectual property, often involve complex contracts and agreements, lacking transparency. NFTs, as public and transparent digital certificates, not only simplify transaction processes but also provide a traceable history of rights distribution. This transparency and simplification bring revolutionary changes to asset management.

EIP6551 and Property Rights#

I first learned about EIP6551 before my trip to Lisbon in March, and I specifically studied it and developed a dapp based on it for the hackathon. If we compare it at its core, I have essentially created a similar mechanism, but with much weaker flexibility and scalability. Let me explain EIP6551: the core idea of EIP6551 is to treat NFTs as containers for wallets, thereby associating NFTs with assets and overlaying more operations on this basis. The main advantage of this design is transaction isolation and permission isolation, bringing higher flexibility and security to asset management.

In the Web2 world, each website is an independent entity, and user data and assets are managed and controlled by the website. However, in the Web3 world, this narrative is reversed. Users become the center, while websites and applications revolve around users. The advantage of this model is that users have greater control over their data and assets, but it also brings a problem: assets are difficult to separate. When a user's wallet is attacked or stolen, all assets associated with that wallet may be at risk.

EIP6551 provides a solution. By treating each NFT as an independent wallet, all assets associated with it are stored within, achieving asset isolation. This means that even if the main wallet is attacked, as long as the attack does not extend to all sub-wallets, the assets in other sub-wallets remain secure. This design achieves risk isolation and asset isolation, providing users with higher asset security.

In the Creader.io section, we attempt to define a new property management framework through NFTs. However, the flexibility of this framework, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, is limited due to the lack of asset isolation. Once rights distribution increases, there will still be many inconveniences, such as asset transfer and fee calculation. EIP6551 can redefine this within the existing framework. By associating each right or asset with an NFT, we can achieve the digitization and assetization of rights. Each NFT can be seen as an independent wallet containing all information and transaction records related to that right or asset. This design not only simplifies the management and trading processes of intellectual property but also provides higher transparency and security.

Moreover, EIP6551 offers greater flexibility for the trading and authorization of intellectual property. For example, a music producer can associate their music work with an NFT and use that NFT as an independent wallet. When someone wants to purchase or license the song, they only need to transact with that NFT, rather than negotiating directly with the producer. This design simplifies the transaction process, improves efficiency, and ensures that the rights holder's interests are protected.

Some Thoughts#

Comparing Story Protocol and my proposal, the biggest difference lies in the visualization and abstraction. Currently, many of the concepts discussed in Story Protocol are quite abstract, but the core idea is undoubtedly the same: to solve intellectual property issues. My proposal focuses more on concrete implementation and operation, creating an independent NFT for each associated right of copyright through the "NFT 套 NFT" model, thus achieving visual management of copyrights. The core of this approach is "rights decoupling," which separates property owners from their rights and associates this relationship with NFTs. In contrast, Story Protocol emphasizes openness and collaboration, providing a more macro and abstract perspective on the lifecycle and trading of intellectual property. Story Protocol emphasizes creating a system that can track the origins and evolution of intellectual property and provide frictionless licensing and mixed intellectual property modules. Although both aim to address the same core issue, their methods and focuses differ. My proposal offers a more concrete, operational solution, while Story Protocol provides a more open and collaborative framework.

Challenges of Popularization#

New technologies inevitably bring new pains and opportunities.

Let's discuss the challenges of blockchain and property rights. In fact, the innovation of new technologies often brings many new problems, just as new features can disrupt existing logic. Let's talk about a few important points: technology acceptance, plagiarism and infringement, and transaction transparency.

Acceptance#

Over the past 5,000 years, human civilization has experienced rapid progress, and we have produced data at the terabyte level. In contrast, blockchain technology has only a short history of a little over a decade. This time difference has created a significant learning curve, requiring relevant stakeholders to invest substantial time and resources to understand and adapt to this new technology. Within the blockchain industry, we are well aware that user thresholds are one of the main challenges we face today. For ordinary users, this novel and relatively complex technology requires extensive education and outreach efforts. Especially when it comes to a historically rich field like intellectual property, the difficulty of promotion and collaboration increases further.

The management and enforcement of intellectual property vary significantly between countries, as each country has its own laws and standards. Although on-chain intellectual property may adopt a unified on-chain standard, this does not mean it can perfectly integrate with the legal systems of various countries. This creates additional barriers for governments in accepting and implementing this new technology. To overcome this challenge, we need an open and unified standard. Only when all participants adhere to this standard can countries make localized improvements based on it, simplifying processes and ensuring smooth cross-border transactions.

Finally, the attitude and participation of governments are crucial. Typically, governments hold conservative views on accepting and regulating new technologies. To ensure the widespread application of blockchain technology in the field of intellectual property, we need to establish close collaborations with governments and regulatory agencies to ensure that new technologies align with existing laws and regulations.

Plagiarism and Infringement#

Before discussing the two major topics of plagiarism and infringement, I want to clarify a point, which is also a question my advisor once raised. That is, no matter how advanced technology becomes, including blockchain, no technology can completely prevent or eliminate human misconduct such as plagiarism and infringement. We cannot fully control or prevent human behavioral choices. However, on-chain intellectual property does provide us with a powerful tool: rights confirmation. In traditional intellectual property disputes, the entire process can generally be divided into two stages: evidence collection and adjudication. Through blockchain technology, we can significantly accelerate the efficiency of evidence collection, thereby shortening the time taken to resolve the entire dispute. In short, the application of this technology can speed up the resolution of disputes, reduce the resulting damages, and increase the costs and risks of infringement, thereby indirectly raising the threshold for such crimes. However, no matter how we change the narrative, we cannot avoid on-chain plagiarism or off-chain plagiarism, or plagiarism within the blockchain ecosystem. This aspect may require community and AI assistance. Finally, let me explain plagiarism, which is perhaps more difficult to understand than infringement. Strictly speaking, there are only a few types of plagiarism that can occur: direct copying, rewriting, or structural and conceptual similarities. However, it is challenging to determine inspiration-level plagiarism, such as gameplay similarities in games that differ at their core and thus do not constitute plagiarism.

Transparency#

One of the core advantages of blockchain technology is its transparency, but this also brings a series of challenges and issues. First, privacy issues have become a major concern. Since all transactions are public, users remain anonymous, and creators' privacy may still be threatened, especially when it comes to copyright transactions and revenue distribution. This could not only expose the identities of creators but also reveal their transaction amounts and other sensitive information. Secondly, excessive transparency may pose risks. While transparency can increase trust and verifiability, it may also lead to the leakage of certain information that should not be public, such as creators' contact information, contract details, etc. Finally, the immutability of blockchain data is a double-edged sword. On one hand, this ensures the authenticity and integrity of the data, but on the other hand, it means that once data is added to the chain, any errors or outdated information will permanently exist and cannot be corrected or deleted. This could lead to legal disputes or other issues, especially in the field of intellectual property.

Conclusion#

Recently, I have been contemplating writing an article about on-chain intellectual property (IP). In fact, the reason I chose this industry is largely due to my strong interest in on-chain IP. In my view, although the current focus is mostly on digital currencies, intellectual property is a field that urgently needs innovation and reform.

Intellectual property, especially successful IP, has immense value and potential. Take Harry Potter as an example; this enduring IP has proven its lasting appeal and value. However, under traditional intellectual property management models, many excellent IPs are often restricted by platforms and intermediaries, leading to their potential not being fully realized.

Blockchain technology offers us a new perspective and tools, making intellectual property management more transparent, fair, and efficient. We hope to break the traditional constraints through blockchain technology and create a low-friction, decentralized intellectual property management ecosystem.

The purpose of writing this article is not only to share my views and ideas but also to help readers gain a deeper understanding of why blockchain and intellectual property should be combined and the goals we are striving to achieve. I hope this article brings you inspiration, and I also hope that the future world of intellectual property can become more just and prosperous because of our efforts.

References#

Special thanks to Shuizong, Story, and Story Protocol.

Analyzing the Three Popular Ethereum Standards: EIP-6969, ERC-721C, and ERC-6551 - Deep Tide TechFlow

sleepy.mid 🦇🔊 on Twitter

Clearing the Fog: Understanding STORY PROTOCOL in One Article

S.Y. Lee on Twitter

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nLMN8ieI-ZG2l-nyY4iX8Gt9p-bo9CXJ/view?usp=sharing