Mediachain: We want to build the largest public media metadata database

We live in an era where copyright awareness is very weak. Internet infringement is the most serious, including songs, pictures and movies, where infringement is particularly serious. With the development of the Internet, online information spreads very quickly, and copyright information is often forgotten. In many cases, simply deleting infringing information is of no help at all.

To solve this problem, Mediachain Labs co-founder Denis Nazarov worked with developers to create a protocol that aims to design a unified file sharing format and data format for decentralized apps.

Nazarov said:

The protection of metadata, such as copyright information, has always conflicted with the dissemination of information, which has always won out because the Internet facilitates the dissemination of information without requiring participants to attach special instructions or links to authors.

Mediachain is an open source distributed metadata protocol that aims to allow all participants to share images and information in a decentralized system, according to Jesse Walden, another co-founder of Mediachain Labs.

Nazarov said:

Mediachain is a decentralized media metadata protocol that allows participants to sign cryptographic claims for their original works.

Users of this protocol (websites, platforms, apps, etc.) can save the trouble of storing data such as ownership, and can also choose to store other types of data, such as emails and Bitcoin addresses.

The Mediachain protocol also provides a reverse query function for authors, making it easier for readers to tip authors with Bitcoin, while also providing an opportunity for email exchanges between the two parties.

Nazarov said:

The Mediachain protocol was established to create the world's largest public media metadata database to protect the copyright of original works. We believe that this protocol can help authors better protect copyright, help users better use media platforms, and help developers develop apps.

There are some centralized platforms that have similar goals to the Mediachain protocol, but they only follow a first-come, first-served basis. Mediachain developer Arkadiy Kukarkin said:

This 'first come, first served principle' usually identifies the first person to post a work on the platform as the author. This collection method is imperfect and also facilitates plagiarism and impersonation, infringing on the rights of users who lack certain technical knowledge.

Mediachain solves this problem through a special "sensor". When a work is submitted, its global media library will carefully review it. This "sensor" can recognize whether the uploaded work has undergone various special processing such as cropping and editing.

Walden said:

After the work is uploaded, the 'sensor' is checked against the Mediachain database to create a unique identifier, similar to the technology used by Shazam (song recognition software) and Google Image Search to protect the copyright of content on their sites.

The media industry has always tended to be a more closed system, but we can do better.

Mediachain's online upload function is free. Mediachain users can also set up automatic uploads.

Mediachain developers have already created metadata records for more than 2 million original images. The Museum of Modern Art, Getty Images (provides creative images and stock footage), the Digital Public Library of America, and Europeana are all users of Mediachain, proving that the protocol can handle a considerable amount of capacity.

Nazarov said:

If two parties have the same work information at the same time, in order to protect the copyright of both sources, Mediachain will automatically adjust and connect the statements signed by the two parties with the same logo.

The metadata of the Mediachain protocol is too long for the blockchain, so all data is stored in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). IPFS is a software concept similar to a relational database or BitTorrent, which is an open file storage and addressing system.

Nazarov said:

The metadata statement is cryptographically signed by the contributor, timestamped on the Bitcoin blockchain, and then stored on IPFS, where it can be searched via Perceptron.

Mediachain is decentralized and has no central authority to control it. Mediachain Labs only acts as a regulator for this protocol. This month, Mediachain Labs raised $1.5 million in investment from investors including SecondMarket founder Barry Silbert, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures (USE) and RRE Venture. These investors also participated in the investment in the decentralized commodity trading market Openbazaar.

Nazarov said:

Mediachain Labs aims to build a shared public data layer for the next generation of decentralized apps. We believe that solving complex Internet problems requires working with emerging platforms to build public data and decentralized apps, distributing network effects to every community participant, including authors, users, developers, and related organizations.

After the development phase of the protocol is completed, Mediachain Labs plans to establish cooperation with the most popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The profit model of the Mediachain team has not yet been announced, as investors want them to focus on completing the development work without distractions.

Arkadiy Kukarkin, a developer at Mediachain Labs, said:

We believe that self-publishing will gradually become more popular in the future. However, currently, the distribution of works still needs to rely on professional institutions, including record companies, studios, large groups, archives, art galleries, media platforms, etc.