IP Protection Tool: Smart Contracts for IP Protection

1.1 IP Protection Tool Overview

IP Protection Tool in the CapsureLabs platform enables creators to safeguard their intellectual property (IP) on the blockchain. Through this tool, users can register and authenticate the ownership of digital assets, ensuring that copyright information is transparently recorded and verifiable. This documentation provides a smart contract example for IP protection, covering copyright tracking through blockchain-based immutable records.

---

1.2 Key Smart Contract Features for IP Tracking

• Ownership Recording: Each asset registered in the contract is associated with the creator’s address.

• Timestamping: Creation date and ownership information are timestamped at the time of registration.

• Asset Metadata: Metadata such as IPFS hash or URL can be associated with the asset for reference.

• Ownership Transfer: Enables transfer of asset ownership, with the new owner details updated on-chain.

---

1.3 Smart Contract

The following Solidity code demonstrates a simple IP protection contract for registering digital assets. This contract allows a creator to register an asset, confirm ownership, and, if needed, transfer ownership to another address.

IPProtection.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract IPProtection {
    struct Asset {
        address creator;
        string metadataURI;     // IPFS hash or other identifier
        uint256 timestamp;
        address currentOwner;
    }

    mapping(uint256 => Asset) public assets;
    uint256 public assetCount;

    event AssetRegistered(uint256 assetId, address indexed creator, string metadataURI, uint256 timestamp);
    event OwnershipTransferred(uint256 assetId, address indexed previousOwner, address indexed newOwner);

    modifier onlyOwner(uint256 assetId) {
        require(assets[assetId].currentOwner == msg.sender, "Caller is not the current owner");
        _;
    }

    // Register a new asset
    function registerAsset(string memory metadataURI) public returns (uint256) {
        assetCount++;
        uint256 assetId = assetCount;
        assets[assetId] = Asset({
            creator: msg.sender,
            metadataURI: metadataURI,
            timestamp: block.timestamp,
            currentOwner: msg.sender
        });

        emit AssetRegistered(assetId, msg.sender, metadataURI, block.timestamp);
        return assetId;
    }

    // View ownership and metadata of an asset
    function getAssetDetails(uint256 assetId) public view returns (address, string memory, uint256, address) {
        Asset memory asset = assets[assetId];
        return (asset.creator, asset.metadataURI, asset.timestamp, asset.currentOwner);
    }

    // Transfer ownership of an asset to another address
    function transferOwnership(uint256 assetId, address newOwner) public onlyOwner(assetId) {
        address previousOwner = assets[assetId].currentOwner;
        assets[assetId].currentOwner = newOwner;

        emit OwnershipTransferred(assetId, previousOwner, newOwner);
    }
}

---

1.4 Usage and Deployment

Registering an Asset

To register an asset, call the registerAsset function with a unique identifier for the content, such as an IPFS hash, representing the asset's metadata.

registerAsset("ipfs://QmExampleHash");

• Function: registerAsset(string memory metadataURI)

• Parameters:

  • metadataURI: IPFS or similar URL that points to the content's metadata.

• Returns: uint256 assetId (a unique ID for the registered asset)

• Events: Emits AssetRegistered on successful registration.

Transferring Ownership

To transfer ownership, the current owner calls transferOwnership with the asset ID and new owner’s address.

transferOwnership(assetId, 0xNewOwnerAddress);

• Function: transferOwnership(uint256 assetId, address newOwner)

• Parameters:

  • assetId: The ID of the asset to transfer.

  • newOwner: The address of the new owner.

• Events: Emits OwnershipTransferred on successful transfer.

Viewing Asset Information

To view details about an asset, call getAssetDetails with the asset ID.

• Function: getAssetDetails(uint256 assetId)

• Returns: Tuple (address creator, string metadataURI, uint256 timestamp, address currentOwner)

---

1.5 Best Practices and Security Considerations

1. Immutable Metadata: Use IPFS or Arweave to store metadata for assets, ensuring that content remains accessible and unaltered.

2. Data Validation: Ensure metadataURI uniquely identifies each asset. Avoid duplication of URIs to prevent conflicting ownership.

3. Gas Optimization: Keep asset records concise. Use shorter metadata URIs (IPFS hash) and avoid unnecessary data storage in contracts to reduce gas fees.

4. Access Control: Implement access modifiers like onlyOwner to secure asset transfers and prevent unauthorized ownership changes.

5. Event Logging: Use events to track registration and ownership changes, making it easier to verify on-chain activities related to asset ownership.