NFTs Against Copyright Infringements: Certifications of Authenticity and Ownership
Certifications are often offered to qualifying candidates in the form of paper or a digital certificate. However, this approach has time and again proven to be inadequate as documents can be easily forged online. Moreover, employers and universities often require replicas, and sending these in paper form is cumbersome. NFTs can help solve issues like these, using the principles of Identification, Authentication, and Authorization.
Identification, Authentication, And Authorisation
Identification, authentication, and authorization are concepts that are often confused with each other. Let us take a look at what they entail.
· Identification: Identification occurs when a subject such as a user claims a particular identity, and the system recognizes this claim as valid. For example, when a password management system asks a user for their login account, they might enter it. The system then identifies if such a user exists or not. In the blockchain world, identification can be associated with the public key of an NFT. This public key uniquely identifies the NFT to the blockchain and its users.
· Authentication: Authentication is the process of proving the identity of a user or object. One example is when a system matches an inputted password with the copy stored in the system. In an NFT environment, authentication occurs when the blockchain verifies a private key with a public key.
· Authorisation: Authorisation is the process of specifying the rights of an identified and authenticated user. For instance, the owner of the NFT has the right to transfer it to other people on the market, sell it, and so on.
NFTs For Licences, Registrations, and Certificates
An interesting use case of NFTs is that of registration, licenses, and certifications.
NFTs enable institutions and employers to access a blockchain for verifying the authenticity of a person’s qualifications quickly. The burden of certification and record checking is thus reduced. Some places have also started issuing blockchain-based formal documents like driver’s licenses, such as Sydney.
Benefits of using NFTs for license and registration include:
· Reduced time for receiving documentation
· Excellent proof of authenticity
· Cheaper than traditional paper-based methods
· Practical and free from errors.
· More efficient, immutable storage of evidence
7.3 Identity Management Using NFTs
NFTs can be used for the identity management of assets that hold value. Some examples include:
· Autographs: Verifying the authenticity of signatures is a challenge NFTs can solve. One famous example is how the first tweet was autographed and sold as an NFT by Jack Dorsey for $2.9 million.
· Clothing Brands: Several higher-end clothing brands such as Gucci have sold expensive NFTs. Gucci sold a Loop video for more than $20,000 and donated proceeds to COVID vaccine access.
· High-end clothing brand Overpriced.™ debuted its first NFT-linked hoodie, which sold for a record $26,000 USD at auction.
· Movie And Fandom Merchandise: Several brands have created NFTs for selling merchandise. Marvel, for instance, has signed up with Singapore-based organisation VeVe to offer NFT collectibles. The app has 100,000+ downloads and also has a digital token called OMI that users can invest in.
· Sports: Socios, a blockchain fintech provider, has a Fan token offering called Chiliz ($CHZ), with several well-known partners like FC Barcelona, Juventus, AS Roma, FC Inter, and UFC.
NFTs In Certifications Of Authenticity And Ownership In Digital World
One of the most well-known use cases of NFTs is certifications of authenticity and ownership. Christie’s, for instance, sold an NFT-based artwork known as “Every day’s: The First 5000 Days” for $69 million. VeChain has several use cases such as asset authentication, tracking goods, and simplification of product maintenance.
NFTs have all information related to the certification of work, such as the name of the asset, creator, size, medium prints, the title of ownership, and certificate of authenticity.
NFTs Against Copyright Infringements
NFTs can be used to protect intellectual property against copyright infringements. Some tokens such as the ERC-721 and ERC-1155 are used for this purpose.
ERC-721: ERC-721 enables representation for assets such as certifications that are not divisible. In other words, Tokens designed with ERC-721 standards are “non-fungible” in that they are distinct from each other. Assets linked with ERC-721 tokens can have their ownership proven in a secure and immutable manner.
The NFT License defines the right of both the creator and owners of an ERC-721 NFT. It solves the dual problems of:
· Safeguarding the work and ingenuity of creators
· Allowing users complete flexibility and freedom in using their non-fungible tokens.
The NFT license provides a middle ground between the traditional options creators had, i.e., either open sourcing their work or restricting usage rights.
Flexible contracts can be created; for instance, owners can commercialize products made by them with purchased NFT art. It thus allows blockchain developers to create sustainable business models and secure monetization and revenue.
ERC-1155: It allows faster, efficient transfers of tokens in a batch so users can create and transfer multiple NFT assets quickly with the same smart contract. It is more efficient in gas fees and faster while also allowing fungible tokens. For example, game skins (as discussed in chapter 5) may be transferred using these.
Conclusion
NFTs are an exciting arena in blockchain with several applications for trustless and decentralized identification, authentication, and authorization of digital assets. The future will see an ever-increasing use of this technology in related sectors such as IP (Intellectual Property) protection, certifications, and more.
