INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON BLOCKCHAIN
For many artists, the internet is full of opportunities.
Nowadays, having an online presence is necessary to thrive in any form of business. With a few clicks, you can share art, idea, invention and build a fan-base worldwide, promote and market a business. Likes, tweets and shares are great tools to make money off social media from any craft.
If your piece or creation is not available online, chances are, you won’t get noticed, and you’ll miss out on chances to profit.
The digital world offers advantages with high efficiency at very little cost. However, along with this convenience comes an irrefutable disadvantage, that leaves artists often exposed and vulnerable. The art and creatives industry are particularly vulnerable to theft. Where with a click of a button you can upload and share your invention, idea, art, song and music composition, so can just as easily be hacked, copied, posted and claimed as someone else’s.
It’s increasingly important, especially in our digital age, to protect original idea, invention and composition from theft. Plagiarism, Piracy, Copyright or Image Infringement are abundant and a looming nightmare for any type of craft, regardless of level of expertise.
A person’s craft may be just livelihood or source of income for some, but for majority, it is self-expression and identity. It is a personal investment of time, money, effort and soul, hence protecting any intellectual property needs to be priority.
Oxford defines intellectual property as an intangible property that is the result of creativity, such as patents, copyrights, etc.
While we have banks, safety deposit boxes, locks and keys to safeguard physical belongings, what options are there for our intellectual properties. Proper documentation, adding watermark, copyrighting original works, and applying for patents are recommended to prevent theft. These are methods and practices known to ensure that intellectual property remains safe.
Signature Chain has identified an additional step where inventors, artists, writers, filmmakers, song and music compositors can put a “lock” on their original pieces and creations with just a click of a button. As part of the documentation process, artists can submit intellectual properties as any file and document, and certify as a transaction in the Waves Blockchain. Aside from certifying with a date and time, a unique hash will be computed and produced based off the content, such that any changes made - even the slightest change in the certified file or document - can produce a different hash.
INTERVIEW
We have Joey Gates, a digital artist, traditional fine artist, illustrator and animator who supports certification on the Blockchain. here is how he believes creators like him can benefit from using the Blockchain on intellectual properties.
Have you or anyone you knows encountered theft in any form?
“Yes! I’ve had people take my work reprint it and sell it as their own. I have many friends who have also experienced this. In this case it’s my word against theirs and artists many times are lacking a way to prove they are the original creators.”
In your opinion, how easy it is for people to people to steal someone’s creation, and why do you think so?
Most artist love it when their art inspires others to create something similar. However, they will get news from their network of friends that someone has taken and is reselling their work. The tech is there to remove watermarks, up-res images or take screenshots with 4K monitors. They will ether claim art as their own to gain influence or to sell for a profit.
Prior to uploading and posting your work, what steps do you take to protect your art?
An artist that post their work online either has to put a big ugly watermark across the image, make it very low resolution or both. Many artists I know feel like the positive act of sharing art for fans is worth the risk and just put a social media handle in the corner. They don’t protect it.. because protection is so nonexistent.
Why do you certify your creation on Sign web app?
I certify my art for three reasons. 1. By giving my art a time stamp on a blockchain it can help prove my art is mine. Anyone that attempts to call it their own, will do so after it’s been certified, and I can prove to them or a judge the work is mine because of that time stamp on a public blockchain. 2. Digital art has an original, but as soon as that file is copied it can lose its exclusiveness. But if I certify the only existing digital painting, never copy the high-resolution file, it keeps its true original status. 3. I think original digital art will be an increasingly profitable opportunity for artists in the future. Art collectors will want certified original digital art. Collectors in the future will be able to use SIGN to pay the artist or gallery to transfer the ownership of digital art via a blockchain transaction.
Would you recommend using the SIGN web app to other creators?
Yes! The technology is new and will be even more useful as time goes on. Anything an artist can do to be able to help prove their art is theirs will help them today. Other features coming to SIGN gives me hope that a whole infrastructure will be made over the next several years to support artists of all types.
Bottom line is, Signature Chain aims to provide a portal for creators to certify original creation on a blockchain. Henceforth, the certification date and time are irrefutable and reliable proof to present authorship and ownership especially in court, if necessary.
Signature Chain, together with Joey gates, are already discussing the development of a platform that will gather artists and their certified works on a decentralized portal, so better stay tuned!
Follow Joey Gates on instagram
Joey Gates Certified Arts in this article:
Spectacle Owl
https://wavesexplorer.com/tx/FFnNWqGMRfD1AqAe7xDJA7TQAHv2q6473Q7X3fK3xa75
Goddess
http://wavesexplorer.com/tx/8iCnmV9N4b55eJT537DbaHdX3K13ztJFNx79aD4BsHJh
The Creation
http://wavesexplorer.com/tx/BKmL2z2JZ4YRazHe2fMvELDhQTzkfqByomeoryyRUnjZ
Crystal Rat
http://wavesexplorer.com/tx/EqsnmGtCvd6B4U8BnoQPMaqryFNAcgQfWU5bamfe8Utg
Marilyn Monroe
http://wavesexplorer.com/tx/AshuQ4y5gmPotCrJ3twqkT7PgAPwEmoCjcFbpETimkpa
Website: https://www.signature-chain.com/
Sign web app: https://www.sign-web.app/
Sign web app testnet: https://testnet.sign-web.app/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SignatureChain
Telegram: https://t.me/SICA_official
