Not just a story, Interpretation of the Story white paper

Facing the ancient and grand theme of how to manage and protect intellectual property, Story released a white paper this week, detailing how Story utilizes blockchain technology to address this challenge. Here, we review the white paper, not wanting to get bogged down in complex and obscure technologies and charts, but rather to discuss how Story is turning this story into reality.

1. What story does Story want to tell?

The core vision of Story is to make the management of intellectual property more efficient, transparent, and flexible through blockchain technology. Traditional IP management often faces inefficiencies, time consumption, and lack of transparency due to centralization, while Story hopes to change this situation through the following three key features:

• Programmable: Pre-setting usage rules through smart contracts, such as revenue distribution and authorization conditions, to reduce communication and execution costs.
• Tradable: IP assets can be authorized, sold, or mortgaged as easily as cryptocurrencies, breaking the limitations of physical assets.
• Transparent: Recording ownership, authorization records, and revenue distribution on-chain to ensure public transparency and immutability.

Through these features, Story aims to promote the tokenization and monetization of IP, helping creators protect and monetize their creations more efficiently.

2. What content can generate IP? How to generate IP and monetize it?

Story supports various types of objects to generate IP, and its modular technology architecture enables the registration, protection, and monetization of intellectual property, helping these IP assets maximize their value. Here, we will discuss how Story produces IP for these assets and builds monetization pathways from the perspectives of creative content, digital assets, AI models and their generated content, and technical assets.

2.1 Creative Content

Including literary works, art, music, videos, animations, etc.

How does Story generate IP?

• Proof of Creativity (PoC): Verifying the originality of works through the PoC protocol to ensure the legality and uniqueness of intellectual property.
• Storage Core: Storing large-scale content (such as videos, music files) in a distributed storage system (like IPFS) and recording metadata and smart contract rules on-chain.
• IP Graph: Recording ownership, authorized use, and derivative relationships of creative content, such as the revenue distribution relationship after a literary work is adapted into a movie.

How to monetize?

• Authorized use: Creators define authorization rules (such as authorization fees, usage frequency) through smart contracts, allowing content to be used by publishers, platforms, or advertisers for a fee.
• NFTization: Converting works into NFTs for sale or auction in the global market.
• Automatic royalty distribution: When content is used, royalties are automatically paid to creators through smart contracts.

Application case:

• Aria Protocol: Aria Protocol transforms Justin Bieber's single "Peaches" into an IP asset based on Story. When fans and brands purchase on-chain authorization for "Peaches" for advertising or covers, royalties will be paid to the original creator according to smart contract rules.

2.2 Digital Assets

Such as NFTs, virtual land in the metaverse, game items, datasets, etc.

How does Story generate IP?

• Digital Registration: On-chain registration of virtual assets (such as game items, virtual land) and setting ownership, usage rights, and trading rules.
• Dynamic Licensing: Smart contracts allow users to rent, share, or purchase usage rights for digital assets on demand.

How to monetize?

• Trading and leasing: Virtual land, game items, and other assets can be sold or leased directly, with revenue distributed through smart contracts.
• Fractional Ownership: High-value assets (such as virtual land) can be divided into multiple tokens, allowing multiple investors to hold them together and share profits proportionally.
• Dataset licensing: Developers can rent datasets for AI model training and pay fees based on usage.

Application case:

• Emergence (@emergenceverse): Emergence is a metaverse platform where users can purchase virtual assets (such as land and items) and register them as IP through Story for easy trading and authorization.
• Gomble Games (@GombleGames): Gomble Games is a blockchain game project based on Story that allows players to register in-game items as IP and realize value appreciation through on-chain trading or cross-chain transfer.

2.3 AI Models

How does Story generate IP?

• Proof of Creativity (PoC): Verifying the originality of models through PoC and recording their training data sources to ensure legality.
• Model Registration: Registering AI models as IP, with on-chain records of model architecture, training sources, and invocation rules.
• On-Chain Execution: Story provides computing power support, allowing users to invoke models directly on-chain and charge based on usage.

How to monetize?

• API call authorization: Developers can open model APIs, authorizing enterprises to invoke models and charge based on the number of calls.
• Revenue distribution: When models are used to generate content (such as advertisements, videos), revenue is automatically distributed to model developers through smart contracts.
• Optimized model trading: Derivative models can be registered as new IP after optimization and traded on-chain, with revenue distributed according to derivative relationships.

Application case:

• Dria (@driaforall): AI agents on the Dria platform can register IP in the Story ecosystem and authorize others to use these IPs for training data, helping enterprises and individuals quickly train exclusive AI models.
• MyShell (@myshell_ai): Creators of MyShell can register on-chain IP for their AI models and set authorization and fee mechanisms, establishing a truly creator-, user-, and investor-friendly economic ecosystem.

2.4 AI-Generated Content (AIGC)

Including text, images, videos, and audio content generated by AI.

How does Story generate IP?

• Content Provenance: Recording the model source, training data, and generation process of generated content on-chain to ensure transparency and traceability.
• IP Graph: Tracking the derivative relationships of AI-generated content, such as the revenue distribution path when generated images are used for advertising or design.

How to monetize?

• Direct authorization: AI-generated content can be directly authorized to enterprises through smart contracts for commercial use (such as advertising, publishing).
• NFTization: Converting AIGC content into NFTs for sale or auction in the market.
• Revenue sharing: Creators and AI model developers can share AIGC revenue proportionally, with automated distribution through smart contracts.

Application case:

• SoloAI (@soloai_dj): SoloAI is a music creation platform based on Story, where users can create music using AI and share it with the community. Through the innovative "bond curve" model, SoloAI helps users quickly monetize music while introducing community participation and support.
• BlockBook: BlockBook is a content creation platform based on Story that aims to give creators control over their content and intellectual property (IP). It supports creators in monetizing content through remixing, derivative creation, and distribution, endowing content with value in the AI, brand, and other creator ecosystems.

2.5 Technical Assets

Such as technology patents, design patents, machine learning algorithms, etc.

How does Story generate IP?

• Smart Contract Core: Defining authorization rules for technical assets, such as charging based on the number of calls or contract terms.
• Off-Chain Synchronization Core: Verifying the authenticity of technology patents and algorithms, generating legally binding on-chain authorization contracts.
• IP Graph: Recording the usage and derivative relationships of technical assets, such as how revenue is distributed when a foundational algorithm is improved.

How to monetize?

• Licensing and authorization: Technology patents can be authorized for use by other enterprises through smart contracts, charging based on contract terms.
• Revenue sharing: When technical assets are commercially utilized, revenue is automatically distributed to owners through smart contracts.
• Financing and collateral: Technical assets can be used as collateral in DeFi applications to obtain liquidity.

3. What is the $IP token?

$IP is the native token of the Story platform, which can be used as a settlement token for purchasing various IPs; it is also a medium for value exchange that coordinates the entire network, especially playing an important role in communication authorization between AI agents. In addition, Story uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, requiring validating nodes to stake $IP as collateral to maintain network security.

In summary, $IP is the universal token, gas token, and staking token of the Story platform.

4. What are the characteristics of Story as a Layer 1?

As a Layer 1 blockchain focused on intellectual property, Story not only combines flexibility and efficiency but also promotes the integration of IP and the AI economy. Specifically, it has the following characteristics:

4.1 IP Native

Story is developed entirely around the needs of IP from the underlying protocol, supporting functions such as registration, tracking, verification, authorization, and revenue distribution of intellectual property. All IP data is stored on-chain, ensuring immutability and maintaining the security of intellectual property.

4.2 Modular Design

Story's modular architecture allows it to flexibly adapt to various scenarios. For example, it supports the deployment of dedicated protocols, such as "Proof of Creativity" and "Agent TCP/IP Protocol," providing tailored solutions for creators, developers, and AI agents. The modular design also allows developers to easily create and expand specific IP application scenarios, such as IP financialization (IPFi) or distributed content creation. This architecture enhances the network's flexibility, enabling new features or protocols to be developed independently and integrated quickly.

4.3 EVM Compatibility and Multi-Chain Compatibility

Story has full Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, allowing developers to directly migrate smart contracts and applications from Ethereum, lowering the development threshold. Additionally, Story supports cross-chain communication and asset interoperability, facilitating the circulation of intellectual property across multiple blockchain ecosystems.

4.4 AI Integration (Agent TCP/IP Protocol)

Story achieves deep integration of AI through the Agent TCP/IP protocol, supporting autonomous communication and transactions between AI agents on-chain. AI agents can not only create, verify, and manage intellectual property within the Story network but also participate in IP trading and revenue distribution, promoting the automated development of the intellectual property economy.

4.5 Zero-Knowledge Proof (zk)

Story integrates zero-knowledge proof (zk) technology, providing higher privacy and security for intellectual property management and transactions. Through zk technology, Story can verify the authenticity of transactions while ensuring data privacy.

5. What significance does Story have for the development of AI x Web3?

As a dedicated chain for IP, Story also emphasizes the path of IPization for AI assets in its design, enabling efficient circulation of AI models and generated content on the blockchain, deeply promoting the integration of AI and Web3.

5.1 Full-Link Management of AI Intellectual Property

Story supports putting AI models and their generated content on-chain, forming a traceable economic network from datasets to fine-tuned models to generated content. All content can be registered as on-chain IP assets, and authorization and revenue distribution can be realized through core modules.

5.2 Agent TCP/IP Protocol: Autonomous Collaboration of AI Agents

The Story team has innovatively proposed the Agent TCP/IP protocol, providing a standardized solution for intellectual property transactions between AI agents. Through this protocol, AI agents can autonomously complete the authorization and negotiation of training data, algorithms, and content without human intervention. This enables multi-agent collaboration (such as film production division of labor and revenue distribution) and knowledge sharing between agents, truly achieving autonomy and efficient collaboration of AI agents.

5.3 Monetization and Incentive Mechanism for AI Content

Story provides a transparent revenue distribution system, ensuring that contributors of data, models, and generated content receive fair compensation while incentivizing the continuous emergence of high-quality resources and creative content.

Conclusion

As a Layer 1 public chain focused on intellectual property management, Story offers programmable and tradable IP solutions, and opens up new application scenarios through deep integration with AI and Web3. Whether it is creators protecting content rights or developers exploring more possibilities in the IP economy, Story's technology and architecture provide new tools and ideas for the digital transformation of the global intellectual property market. With the release of the white paper and the upcoming TGE, more possibilities for the Story ecosystem are worth looking forward to.