Artists, there’s now a better way to prove you own the rights to your work.
It’s 2022, and there’s a good chance by now you’ve heard of a thing called blockchain. There’s also a good chance that you might not understand what it is or even why you should care. If you’ve noticed Imprimo uses blockchain, are you thinking…
What does blockchain on a visual art platform even mean?
Blockchain is a type of digital distributed ledger. Information — a transaction or an artist’s claim of ownership to a creative work, for example — is added to a “block” of information that is, in turn, added to a “chain” of data. You could think of it as a giant Excel sheet shared across many computers, where the information is recorded and verified and cannot be changed.
Wait, is this about NFTs?
Well, no, but let’s talk about NFTs, which provide a nice segue into how blockchain can be applied to physical artworks.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital works of value that can have ownership transferred from one owner to another. This sets them apart from other digital images, for which anyone can theoretically make and keep a copy. With an NFT, you can transfer ownership of a digital image to somebody else. How is ownership of an NFT proven? You guessed it: the transactions are recorded on the blockchain.
But back to me and my work. What does this have to do with my collage/silkscreen/watercolours/sculpture…
Good question. We’re getting there.
Do you currently register your copyright to your physical artwork with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)? Perhaps you skip formal registration, but create a record by mailing yourself a copy of your work and keeping it in a sealed envelope? Maybe you draw up your own certificate of authenticity? Perhaps you do nothing at all…
But you could make a public record of your ownership of your work with *drum roll* the blockchain!
And you could do that, really easily, with an Imprimo account.
OK, back up. I know who owns my artwork. It’s in my studio right now. No one is stealing it.
If images of your physical works exist online — on social media, a website, in promo materials for a show — they can be stripped of their attribution and copyright information and reproduced. This impacts your ability to be properly credited for or generate income from your work.
Using Imprimo to register your work on the blockchain creates your immutable claim to your artwork. The record is permanent and accessible to all.
Sounds sensible. Are there any other benefits?
We’re so glad you asked! Here are two big ones:
- Currently, the visual art landscape doesn’t have a system of uniform, trustworthy information about work history and ownership. But access to such a system would add value and create opportunities for everybody. At Imprimo, we’re combining blockchain registration with tools such as a Digital Signature, ID verification, and unique storytelling features around work records and career history to benefit the entire visual art ecosystem — from creators to curators to collectors.
- The internet is changing — moving towards a more decentralized space in which the user retains more control and ownership of their content. Employing tools like blockchain to register your work positions you to be ready for these changes as you prove your ownership of the images you post online.
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