Adobe is launching a system built into Photoshop that can, among other things, help prove that the person selling an NFT is the person who made it. It’s called Content Credentials, and NFT sellers will be able to link the Adobe ID to their crypto wallet, allowing supported NFT marketplaces to display a sort of verified certificate proving that the source art is authentic.
According to a Decoder interview with Adobe Product Manager Scott Belsky, this functionality will be built into Photoshop with a “prepare as NFT” option and will be released in preview later this month. Belsky says that the attribution data created by Content Credentials will live in an IPFS system. IPFS (Interplanetary File System) is a decentralized way of hosting files where a network of people is responsible for keeping the data safe and available, rather than a single company (somewhat similar to how torrent systems work). Adobe says that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, KnownOrigin, and SuperRare will be able to integrate with content credentials to display Adobe attribution information.
Art theft has been a huge problem in the world of NFTs. There have been many examples of people minting art that they did not create or for which they do not have rights on the blockchain. The reason is that anyone can mint an NFT, even if they don’t own the copyright to the content, and there’s really nothing the blockchain can do to stop that. Worse yet, the minting is enshrined in the blockchain, making the creation of NFTs seem authentic if you don’t know the original work.
This system does not make it difficult to mint an NFT from media you do not own the rights to, but it could make that NFT less attractive to the market.
In other words, you could right-click on an existing image of an NFT. and mint it again myself, potentially misleading unsuspecting buyers. While Adobe’s system won’t prevent artwork theft, it does offer a way to prove that the NFT you’re selling isn’t stolen; beyond that, it’s up to buyers to decide how much value they place on it.
Even Banksy, who gets a mention in Decoder, has been caught by NFT scammers. An NFT collector (ironically named Pranksy) paid $300k for an NFT attributed to the famous street artist, which was almost definitely a fake. He ended up getting the money back, but there wouldn’t have been such a fuss if Banksy had digitally signed the NFT. As Adobe’s Belsky points out, Banksy probably wouldn’t want to link his name and Adobe ID to a crypto wallet, but the system is meant to be open source; the anonymous artist may be able to find some way to provide Verified Content Credentials. by the company in charge of authenticating your work.
NFTs aren’t the only thing that will benefit from Adobe Content Credentials, which are a result of its Content Authenticity Initiative. The company is releasing the system as a beta version, and users can use it to show what edits were made to a file in Photoshop, tag their stock images in Adobe’s system, and more.
To learn more about Adobe’s take on NFTs, the impact of Certified Attribution on art and NFTs, and Photoshop on the web, check out this week’s episode of Decoder and the rest of our Max conference coverage. from Adobe.
