TLDR:
- “No rights reserved” platforms such as Creative Commons are beneficial but not sufficient for meaningful growth of the WEB3.0 digital media space
- Creators need proper incentives, protections and means to benefit from their work
- Numbers Search Engine provides comprehensive attribution information which is necessary for transparency and easy-of-use for individual users
- NIT Technology offers enforceable protections and secures digital asset history to promote a healthy creator economy and legitimize the digital media and NFT space
Issues Facing the Digital Media Space in WEB3.0
Due to the digital nature of the web, creators and collectors face a unique challenge in safeguarding their intellectual property and original works from unauthorized proliferation. Though critics may argue that it is better for the growth of the industry and the “meme”-ability of digital assets for creators to waive their copyright and IP protections by issuing digital works through organizations such as Creative Commons Zero (cc0), there is a need for enforceable protections. Without giving creators the proper incentives to create quality works and benefit from them, digital asset marketplaces have increasingly become oversaturated with junk. Meanwhile, the lack of attribution information makes giving credit to original creators cumbersome and perplexing, leaving innocent individual users wondering if their citation is sufficient to avoid a future lawsuit.
Drawing substantial public interest in recent years, the NFT space is a notable area that would benefit from increased transparency and protections. Despite the great potential of the industry and the blockchain technology behind it, scandals of theft, misuse and litigation continue to hinder public buy-in. It is common for many institutional and consumer stakeholders alike to misunderstand the finer details. For instance, there is a widespread misconception that possession of a non-fungible token imparts copyright protections to the owner. However, this is far from the truth. Although non-fungible tokens represent ownership, they do not inherently impart rights or protections to the owner.
This is an issue that has continued to plague platforms such as OpenSea and Mintable as they struggle to moderate and filter the sheer volume of “fake” NFTs using stolen art that has saturated their marketplaces.
Finding a Solution in NIT and Numbers Search Engine
Powered by NIT technology, Numbers Protocol offers a tenable solution to these issues. NIT is a WEB3.0 based digital asset management system designed to chronicle digital asset history and ensure secure, immutable, traceable and verifiable integrity records for each asset registered on the Numbers blockchain. Most importantly, copyright and license data are captured and recorded directly onto the blockchain and made transparent with an easy search through Numbers Explorer. Let us see how this is done.
Timeless Mucha is an NFT Collection pushed by the Mucha Foundation and supported by HTC Vive Arts to preserve Alphonse Mucha's art on the blockchain. Numbers Protocol was used to register the Mucha Collection and capture its commercial licensing, while Number Search Engine ensures transparent record keeping. (Asset Profile Link)
Common creators often don't know where to start with licensing. However, basic licenses are established on creation with Numbers Protocol. The above is a photo taken with Capture APP, Numbers primary creation tool. (Asset Profile Link)
This NFT is not registered and Numbers Search Engine shows that it has no license and no records. It is no different from a Google image. (Asset Profile Link)
As shown above, Numbers Search Engine clearly details license transparency and attribution information. With digital footprint monetization, creators have the benefit of enforceable protections for the work they generate. Numbers Search Engine makes digital creations discoverable and gives clear parameters on how they can be used. From established creators like Giovanna Sun to the numerous aspiring digital artists that benefit from utilizing NIT already, the transparent license of digital assets covered by Numbers Protocol help users to avoid the pitfalls of unintentionally “open-sourcing” their works without knowledge of the legal limitations.
Creating a Healthy Creator Economy
With the rapid growth of the modern web, digital media has become an irreplaceable centerpiece of numerous multibillion dollar industries. However, due to the ever-changing nature of the web and copyright legislation struggling to catch up, innovative workarounds must come alongside governing laws that have become ill-suited for the needs of most copyright owners and individual users. There is a great need for transparency and straightforward IP protections to legitimize the space and incentivize better products. In this regard, Numbers Protocol offers a long-awaited solution to the dilemma of how to promote a healthy creator economy.
About Numbers Protocol
Numbers is building a decentralized photo network for creating community, value, and trust in digital media. Its Numbers Protocol redefines digital visual media as assets and is the backbone of a suite of tools for registering and retrieving images and videos in the Numbers network.
These include:
- Capture App: The first blockchain camera in the world that users can easily register photos and use Web3.0 applications.
- Seal API: Developers and enterprises can implement Numbers API to register photos and access their Web3.0 addresses and certificates.
- Certificates: content authenticity certificates with on-chain provenance
- CaptureClub marketplace: Native NFT marketplace which allows photo generators to sell and stake their creations.
- NFT Search Engine: The first Web3.0 NFT search engine that helps users verify the history of NFTs and prevent potential NFT fraud.
Numbers champion the purity of digital media and enable people to think more critically about the interactions between our images and the world around us. The goal of Numbers is to tokenize authentic photos (including images and videos) to create a decentralized photo network in Web3.0.
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