Proof of Origin: A Blockchain Framework for Automated Copyright Enforcement in the Generative AI Era

Abstract

This Article proposes a tripartite technical and legal framework designed to restore meaningful copyright enforcement in an era of large-scale generative artificial intelligence. The framework rests on three interlocking pillars. First, it mandates embedding of non-fungible token (NFT) provenance markers in all digitally published creative works, enabling immutable registration of every instance in which data is scraped or ingested by an AI system. Second, it establishes a compulsory labeling regime requiring that all AI-generated outputs carry a blockchain-anchored attestation of their machine origin and the training-data lineage that produced them. Third, it creates a royalty-settlement layer built on a purpose-designed stablecoin that triggers instantaneous, frictionless micropayments to rights holders whenever their content is used in AI training, inference, or downstream reproduction. The Article situates this proposal within the existing doctrinal architecture of U.S. copyright law, international treaty obligations, and emerging AI-governance legislation. It then subjects each pillar to rigorous technical scrutiny—examining blockchain throughput constraints, metadata-embedding standards, privacy-preserving attribution methods, and stablecoin monetary-policy design—before offering a unified statutory and regulatory roadmap for implementation.