So I've recently read about blockchain backed copyright system, Blockai
From their site:
"Anything that can legally be copyrighted can be claimed with Blockai. Per the U.S. Copyright Office, "Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. The U.S. Copyright Act uses the term “author” to refer to all types of creators including: writers, composers, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers, architects, musicians, and computer software programmers."
There were similar attempts as far as I know, for example, Mediachain or Ascribe.
I am not sure how extended the use cases are atm for these platforms, in US and outside.
But here is a thought; if it's not already (being) implemented that is:
Would it be possible & interesting to create an alternate system borrowing from similar ideas, by which creators & users can generate steem/value, whenever a 'registered' image is used? That could give incentive for 'owners' to register their work, for they'll not only be able to track their work down, but also be automatically compensated 'to some extend' (how to asses this?). This could also give the 'curators' a solid reason to choose these works instead of 'stray' ones, knowing that there is a higher curation reward?
If we have copyright law experts within the community I'd love to hear their views on this topic. I know it's not half as simple as I typed here. =)