Hydra for collaborative copyright management, at scale

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Mario Altimari

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Individual

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

8

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Enhancing the ability of POCRE (Proof of Co-creation) to manage copyright at scale by adopting latest Hydra version.

Full integration of Hydra into every workflow process.

Building an MVP to showcase.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

AGPL v3

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

The current Proof of Concept is working on Cardano Preview Net

https://app.pocre.net/

All the wireframes available on Figma

https://www.figma.com/file/RCsQiqMQd4MYot51y0ocH4/POCRE?type=design&node-id=0%3A1&mode=design&t=8yQuHNG9GrdGKuYf-1

Full source code available on GitHub

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE

Full documentation on Wiki

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE/wiki

White paper

https://www.pocre.net/problem-solution/white-paper

The outcome of this proposal

Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that showcases to full integration of Hydra.

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Problem

Protecting online work, especially in collaborative creations like mashups, presents a complex challenge. Mashups blend different elements, such as music or videos, to forge new, unique creations. However, questions about ownership, credit attribution, and monetary rights complicate these digital art forms. Legal complications arise when creators use parts of other works without clear ownership or recognition of the original creators. POCRE, funded on F8 was delivered successfully and debuted as POC on the preview network, seeks to address these challenges. It leverages Hydra Cardano technology to identify the different contributors in a mashup, ensuring fair recognition and introducing a reputation-based voting system for dispute resolution. Initially, POCRE's development occurred during Hydra's nascent stages, limiting its ability to handle real-world scenarios like a global copyright system for co-creation. The existing proof-of-concept utilizing Hydra isn't production-ready due to significant limitations.

Solution

The core challenge in collaborative creation is accurately recognizing each author's contribution. This process involves managing disputes, filtering out trolls through user reputation assessments, voting for rightful authorship claims, and incentivizing jury participation. POCRE currently handles these workflows off-chain and on Layer 1. However, much of this information could be efficiently processed on Layer 2, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Hydra, initially designed for real-time applications like auctions and poker games, had limited use cases. However, its ongoing development towards dynamic Head/cluster creation broadens its applicability. Now, Hydra is stable enough to manage time-sensitive processes like controversy resolution and voting in POCRE. Its adoption demonstrates the technology's versatility beyond its initial scope. POCRE's current implementation faces limitations due to its reliance on metadata/off-chain databases instead of Layer 1 NFTs/datums. This approach was necessary for initial development simplicity but is now outdated due to Hydra's maturity.

Market

The creator economy is rapidly expanding, with projections estimating its value at $100 billion by 2025. Currently, around 50 million individuals contribute to this economy, with Linktree reporting approximately 200 million contributors as of 2022. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this growth, fueling content creation and consumption. Platforms like Substack, Patreon, YouTube, and VSCO facilitate content production, distribution, and monetization. In the Web3 realm, blockchain solutions like Near, Substrate, and Octopus Network are developing similar frameworks to empower creative industries, acknowledged as future economy drivers.

Sources:

• The Creator Economy Market Size in 2023 - Influencers Club. 
• The Creator Economy Market Size is Growing: How Brands Can Leverage It.
• The Creator Economy Explained: How Companies Are Transforming The Self. 
• Creator Economy Explained: What it is, Market Size & Industry Trends. 
• Future of the creator economy - Forbes. 

Features

• High Transaction Throughput: Ability to process a large number of transactions simultaneously.
• Low Latency: Ensures swift response times for authorship claims and resolutions.
• Scalability: Adapts to the growing demands of the creator economy.
• Transparent Authorship Tracking: Clear and fair recognition of all contributors in a digital creation.

Related work

Comparable systems in the creator economy often struggle with scalability and transparency. POCRE’s integration with Hydra sets a new standard by leveraging blockchain technology to solve these issues in a unique and innovative way. This approach is particularly important for Cardano, as it demonstrates the blockchain's capability to support complex, real-world applications beyond simple transactions, thus broadening its use case and appeal in the rapidly evolving digital creator market.

Use case and workflow diagram

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Value to the Cardano Community

The successful integration of Hydra as a Layer 2 solution in POCRE will significantly benefit the Cardano community. This project stands as a testament to the versatility and robustness of the Cardano blockchain, particularly in addressing real-world challenges faced by entrepreneurs and creators in the digital domain. By showcasing Cardano's ability to handle complex, multi-faceted issues like digital authorship and copyright management, the project will not only validate the blockchain's capabilities but also attract a broader user base. This expansion includes creators, co-creators, and entrepreneurs who will see Cardano as a viable platform for their innovative projects.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

I have already successfully delivered 2 out of 2 Catalyst projects on funds 7 and 8.

Both projects are open source and released on GitHub

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/PoLiL

very well tracked

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE/projects/1

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/PoLiL/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed

and very well documented

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE/wiki

I also used to tweet the progress and achievements on X (former Twitter)

https://twitter.com/AltiMario/status/1711738369443528908

https://twitter.com/AltiMario/status/1607753699035693056

https://twitter.com/AltiMario/status/1616102042698752000

The steps I will follow for this new round will not differ from what was already done previously.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

• Design an architecture that is compatible with the last Hydra version released
• Following the best practices suggested by the latest Hydra
• Collection of feedback from IOG and experts about the new design

• Implementation of the new design
• Removing the current logic of data stored on metadata/off-chain via external databases
• Introducing the logic of data stored on-chain at Layer 1 NFTs via datums

• Integration of the new components with the current POCRE source code
• Bugfix the current frontend and workflow
• Adapt the new architecture with the current user interface

N/A

N/A

• Tuning the newly adapted frontend
• Testing and verification on test net
• Release in cloud the components that are not related to the Dapp
• Release on the main net

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Mario Altimari - Team leader

Giuthub https://github.com/AltiMario/

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/altimario

I work full-time in the Cardano ecosystem following multiple projects from a technical point of view. I have 20+ years of experience in IT, I started my career as a software developer in 1999. I have held many roles in my career, including technical director of startups and large consulting companies. I'm passionate about blockchain (obviously), open source and data stream processing on distributed systems ( the reason why I built “Data Cruncher” https://github.com/AltiMario/DataCruncher the 1st open source data quality firewall).

Huzaifa Rasheed - Fullstack developer

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/huzaifa-rasheed/

Umair Mukhtar - Full Stack Developer

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/umair-mukhtar-828510153/

Github https://github.com/UmairMukhtar

In general, every main contributors already involved in the first release will be again involved:

https://app.pocre.net/credits

https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE/graphs/contributors

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Budget/cost breakdown:

• [52] hours - Design an architecture that is compatible with the last Hydra release
• [221] hours - Implementation of the new architecture
• [273] hours - Integration and tuning of the frontend
• [78] hours - Testing and release to production

Subtotal: 624 hours @95 USD/hour = 59280 USD

Total (@ rate $0.21 USD / ADA): 282100 ADA

I consider a safe conversion of $0.21 USD per ADA to avoid disruption in case of unpredictable value drop. I faced this issue twice with the previous funds.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

This project helps to demonstrate a real business case where scalability, security, and usability can be achieved by adopting Hydra. A Cardano layer 2 solution that enables fast and cheap transactions without compromising on decentralization or trust. By fully integrating Hydra into POCRE, the project will demonstrate how Cardano can support a wide range of applications that require high throughput and low latency, such as digital content creation and distribution. The project will also showcase the potential of Cardano to empower creators and entrepreneurs with tools and incentives to protect their intellectual property and monetize their work. The project will thus increase the adoption and awareness of Cardano as a leading platform for innovation and social impact.

The concept of collaborative creation recognition is valuable for many industries. For example in the field of EdTech (e-learning) and academia POCRE will be presented in a paper next year for a scientific conference https://github.com/eLearningDAO/POCRE/blob/main/resources/POCRE%20for%20Education%20Lite%20Paper.pdf

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept