On the afternoon of July 18th, Baidu officially announced the launch of “Totem”, the blockchain-based copyright system of original photographs. Prior to this, the product was first beta tested in April.

The Totem platform is based on blockchain technology, along with the power of Baidu, aiming to build a platform covering image production, copyright authentication, image distribution, trading, infringement monitoring, rights protection.

It is understood that Baidu Totem mainly relies on three core technologies: blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data. Based on blockchain technology, Baidu Totem has created a copyright certificate system that provides a “proof of existence” with a clear timestamp for original content. With the addition of other photo copyright agency partners, authorized flow of original contents also be recorded. The Totem will conduct online forensics and record it in the blockchain when a copyright theft is discovered. With the help of artificial intelligence and big data technology, Baidu Totem has created a copyright detection system that covers 100 billion-scale data on the whole network. The recognition accuracy is over 99%, it can run around the clock, and the fastest picture is 10,000 hours. The copyright inspection report can be produced within 2 hours.

In addition to helping the original authors to better identify and defend their rights, Baidu Totem can also provide them with multi-channel distribution and value monetization capabilities. Through the influence of Baidu search engine, Baidu Totem can give original photos more exposure opportunities, and thus bring more potential trading opportunities.

Beyond the picture copyright industry, Baidu Totem’s future application scenarios will be further expanded. Liang Zi, Product Director of Baidu Totem, said that the totem starts with pictures, but not limited to pictures. In the future, the Totem will be open to more original contents like text, video, audio etc.
Baidu Totem also announced “the Bear Paw” project. Authors who join the project can enjoy more comprehensive protection by Baidu. After the copyright is confirmed, the original contents could gain more exposure on Baidu. Meanwhile, if it is the original content is breached, authors may easily apply for protection through the Totem.

At present, Baidu Totem has introduced ecological partners including VCG, Gaopin Images, Viewstock, Originoo, Paixin, Unirust Time Stamp, Itudun, Kbanquan, Wbindex, to further expand the influence of the platform. Wu Haifeng, VP of Baidu and head of the search division, said that the company hope to make better quality content protection through Baidu totem so that original authors can concentrate on content production and gain profits with ease.