Registration and Copyright Binding on Non-Fungible Tokens via Zero-Watermarking

Abstract

With the advent of Web 3.0, user-owned digital content is evolving from simple data to digital assets. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a key technology in Web 3.0, are widely used for secure transactions and tracking digital assets. Current NFT-based copyright protection systems for digital works lack a binding strategy between blockchain-based copyright tokens and off-chain digital works, resulting in either support for off-chain copyright protection or embedding on-chain logos at the cost of work quality. This paper proposes an NFT registration and copyright binding mechanism based on zero watermarking, which identifies and verifies copyright attribution of off-chain digital works via zero watermarks. NFTs are then issued for legitimate works, achieving copyright access. A prototype scheme using quaternion zero watermarking for color images demonstrates that this mechanism is both usable and robust against geometric attacks, noise, and JPEG compression.