I thinks it is pointed in:

-Photos for sale are identified as rightfully owned by having RAW file details published to the blockchain (actual High Res image is not stored on chain)

Technically there is no reason why you couldn't create a raw image from the jpeg, difficult not impossible.

Then the only benefit is the creator has got proof of the creation date, the pirate couldn't prove they created the content before that date.

I am assuming they hash the RAW file. Since JPEGs contain less information than RAW I don't think it is possible to get from JPEG to RAW to hash value matching the one from the original RAW.

But a pirate wouldn't need the original raw, just one that happens to produce the same jpeg.

The intent is to prove ownership, not to prevent piracy. You can't produce the 'owner' hash with your reconstructed RAW.

I note they also only display low res until you buy a high quality version. That's what I do too. If someone wants to save/share my low res images its no problem. If they want something magazine or billboard res (ie commercial) they have to come to me.

If the pirate registers their own reconstructed RAW file, then there are two 'identical' pictures on the blockchain, and no way to tell which one is the real one. (It doesn't matter that the RAW files don't hash to the same value, because there's no authority who can tell you which version is the 'real' one).

Hi throwaway049, yes thats right, both your comments spot on. The main goal is to prove ownership to support legal sale of image. and the real target for sales are buyers that need top quality high res images. Someone mentioned another idea for combatting pircay, eg identifying photos on the web that may be copies, and that is an interesting service that would be way down the road if at all.

I don't think you understand licensing.

Call me a cynic, but can't I change a pixel and use the photo w/o the copyright?

I think that in such cases the rightful owner would point to the RAW photo on the blockchain and argue that his was published long before yours.

The remedy, in other words, remains legal. I see this as a tool for facilitating legal remedy. (Or have I missed your point completely?)

> his was published long before yours

That's not enough. What if someone publishes before the author. Say I buy something from other resource or even directly and publish it on the OP's.

I don't follow. Could you elaborate?

You know how you can download someone's video from YouTube, upload it somewhere else and make money off of it; what's stopping you from doing something similar with pictures here? Even better, with ether.camp you're an "author" since you published it first!

Next feature to add, or deriving business to create: add an indexer/comparison service that checks the JPEGs and to see how similar any two given pictures are, and if one derived copy sells anything, the creator of the original picture gets notified.

This could work from buyer/client side. If I want to buy image, I will check it with some service to be sure that I don't pay to pirate(newer&lightly changed image). But what If buyer doesn't use it?

I don't see the way how this could be implemented to blockchain. If every blockchain node downloaded and compared all images It would create massive bandwith and need for cpu/gpu power. Or am I missing something?

You are right, I don't see this going to the blockchain as well. But I am thinking of a service that runs outside of it, whose main purpose would be to provide (1) some legal support in case you want to file a copyright violation claim and (2) the basis for a reputation system.

Hi rglulis, yes thats a good potential feature for further down the road, we had ideas like that. To begin with we would be limiting such a service to the sellers within the content network itself, so the intensity of the checks are not that substantial. over time the extensiveness of this service would be expanded, first to not just check as sales get made, but to generally check on the content across the network, and eventually if viable to do web wide search as service to image owners (for fee of course). This would not be using blockchain (might be nice to use golem - eth supercomputer eventually though ;-) It would simply be a supporting service of the blockchain based photo sharing social network

Great feature, but I can't help thinking about the permissions you'd have to give for that

Yes, and that's an eternal problem inherent to the nature of digital goods.

Look at Steemit for examples of people making money from original content.