Blockchain for Intellectual Property and Copyright Protection
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Legal services and law firms · Organisation: Ascribe · Maturity level: Production
Ascribe used the Bitcoin blockchain for tamper-proof registration and verification of digital artworks and copyrights. Thousands of artists licensed their works through the platform and could thus document their intellectual property rights in a legally secure manner. The solution used Bitcoin transactions as timestamps and Bitcoin addresses as unique identifiers for digital editions.
Documentation status
- Project status: Production
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026
Description
Ascribe was founded in Berlin in 2015 as one of the first blockchain platforms for digital art rights. The Bitcoin Blog aptly described Ascribe in 2015: Ascribe gives creators back control over their works. The concept was ahead of its time — it anticipated what later became known as NFTs.
The fundamental problem of digital art before blockchain: digital files are perfectly reproducible. Who owns a digital painting or photo? Ascribe solved this through Bitcoin blockchain registration: the artist uploads the work; Ascribe creates a cryptographic hash of the work; this hash is anchored on the Bitcoin blockchain with the artist's wallet address as owner. Ownership transfers to buyers, licences for usage rights and assignment records — all secured on the blockchain. Ascribe worked with BigchainDB as a scalable database layer over the Bitcoin blockchain. The platform was used by art galleries, musicians and photographers. In 2018, Ascribe was discontinued. The team further developed BigchainDB. The Ascribe concept was a precursor to the ERC-721 standard (2018, Ethereum), which standardised NFTs — now a 40+ billion USD market.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Art galleries, publishers and creative agencies can register copyrights for digital content on the blockchain and transfer licences directly — an immutable ownership register without government registration authorities.
B2C — consumers perspective
Digital artists can register their works on the blockchain as uniquely belonging to them — proof of original authorship, basis for licensing and sale of digital originals.
Employees perspective
Employees in legal departments and creative agencies could automate registration processes and focus on more strategic tasks. The user-friendly interface reduced training effort for operating the blockchain technology.
Benefits
General
- Blockchain technology offers immutable and tamper-proof documentation of copyrights.
- Significantly reduced costs compared to traditional registration procedures make copyright protection accessible to smaller players.
- The decentralised nature of the blockchain eliminates single points of failure and increases system availability.
B2B — organisations
- Companies can automate their IP portfolio management and reduce compliance costs.
B2C — consumers
- Individual artists gain affordable access to professional copyright protection without expensive intermediaries.
Employees
- Legal staff can focus on more complex advisory tasks instead of routine documentation duties.
Challenges
General
- Dependence on Bitcoin transaction fees can lead to unpredictable costs during high network load.
- User-friendliness of blockchain technologies remains a challenge for laypersons.
B2B — organisations
- Integration into existing enterprise systems requires technical expertise and adjustments.
Employees
- Employees need to understand basic blockchain concepts to use the technology effectively.
Technology foundation
The system was based on the Bitcoin blockchain, which acted as an immutable register for copyrights. Bitcoin transactions served as timestamps for registration, while private keys enabled proof of ownership and Bitcoin addresses were used as unique identifiers for digital works.
Implementation examples
MAK Vienna Artwork Authentication
The museum wanted to ensure the authenticity of its digital art collection and prevent forgeries. Traditional certification methods were unsuitable and costly for digital works.
MAK Vienna used Ascribe to authenticate and prove the provenance of digital artworks in its collection.
The Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna integrated the Ascribe platform into its digital collection management. Artworks were registered on the Bitcoin blockchain to immutably document their authenticity and provenance. This implementation served as a pilot project for the use of blockchain technology in the museum sector.
The system solved the problem of manipulable digital certificates and created trustworthy provenance records. The blockchain-based solution eliminated the need for central authorities for authentication.
Tags
Copyright, Intellectual Property, Digital Art, Authentication, Bitcoin