Blockchain-Based Audio Watermarking Technique for Multimedia Copyright Protection in Distribution Networks

Copyright protection in multimedia protection distribution is a challenging problem. To protect multimedia data, many watermarking methods have been proposed in the literature. However, most of them cannot be used effectively in a multimedia distribution network (MDN) as they are not designed to support multi-layer watermark embedding. Multi-layer watermarking mechanisms were developed to protect multimedia data across different layers in an MDN. However, in those mechanisms, we need to trust the entities in the MDN, such as regional and country distributors. To overcome this potential drawback, in this article, we propose a novel privacy protection mechanism for MDNs by combining the advantages of both blockchain and watermarking technologies. A specifically designed watermarking algorithm is used to link the copyright information with the audio file, while a novel blockchain-based smart contract mechanism is developed to enforce the proper functioning of each entity in the distribution network. Moreover, the new audio mechanism is computationally efficient. Although audio signals are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism, the proposed approach can easily be extended to other multimedia objects, such as an image. The validity of the proposed mechanism is demonstrated by our simulation results. The proposed mechanism can benefit multimedia production companies and other entities in the MDN.