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Introduction
Welcome to Story
Introducing the World’s IP Blockchain
Story is a purpose-built layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for intellectual property. You can register your IP on-chain and add usage terms to it in seconds, massively lowering the barrier to the currently complex & antiquated legal system for IP. For example, enforcing “you owe me 50% of your commercial revenue if you use my IP” without needing time, money, or lawyers.IP could be an image, a song, an RWA, AI training data, or anything
in-between.
Why did we build Story?
Why did we build Story?
When IP owners share their work online, it’s easy for others to use or change it without crediting them, and they often don’t get paid fairly if their work becomes popular or valuable. This can be discouraging for people who want to share their ideas and creations but don’t want to lose control over them.Additionally, the sheer speed and superabundance of AI-generated media is outpacing the current IP system that was designed for physical replication. In many cases, AI is trained on and is producing copyrighted data.Story fixes this by providing a way for creators to share their work with built-in protection. When someone (including an AI model) uses a song, image, or any creative work that’s registered on Story, the system automatically tracks who the original owner is and makes sure they get credited. Plus, if that work generates revenue—say someone remixes a song and it earns money—the original owner automatically receives their fair share based on license terms that were set on-chain.
Quick FAQs
What's the gas token?
What's the gas token?
$IP
What wallet should I use?
What wallet should I use?
Where can I see the ecosystem?
Where can I see the ecosystem?
Check out our Ecosystem - Getting Started page.
What are my stablecoin options?
What are my stablecoin options?
You can use bridged USDC.e powered by Stargate.
How do I bridge and what's the best method?
How do I bridge and what's the best method?
Use Stargate, deBridge, or Orbiter Finance.
Brief Architecture Overview
There are several elements that make up Story as a whole. Below we will cover the most important components.
Story Network: “The World’s IP Blockchain”
Story Network is a purpose-built layer 1 blockchain achieving the best of EVM and Cosmos SDK. It is 100% EVM-compatible alongside deep execution layer optimizations to support graph data structures, purpose-built for handling complex data structures like IP quickly and cost-efficiently. It does this by:- using precompiled primitives to traverse complex data structures like IP graphs within seconds at marginal costs
- a consensus layer based on the mature CometBFT stack to ensure fast finality and cheap transactions
”Proof-of-Creativity” Protocol
Our “Proof-of-Creativity” Protocol, made up of smart contracts written in Solidity, are natively deployed on Story Network and allow anyone to onramp IP to Story. Most of our documentation focuses on the protocol. Creators register their IP as 🧩 IP Assets on Story. You use 🧱 Modules to interact with IP Assets. For example, enforcing proper usage of your IP via the Licensing Module, paying & claiming revenue via the Royalty Module, and disputing infringing IP via the Dispute Module. Each IP Asset has an associated ERC721 NFT, which represents ownership over the IP. This means IP ownership can be bought & sold. Additionally, the licenses minted from an IP are also ERC721 NFTs, meaning you can buy & sell the rights to use an IP under certain terms. Together, this unlocks a new realm of IPFi.Programmable IP License
Although on-chain, an IP’s usage terms and minted licenses are enforced by an off-chain legal contract called the Programmable IP License (PIL💊). The PIL allows anyone to offramp tokenized IP on Story into the “real world” legal system and outlines real legal terms for how creators can remix, monetize, and create derivatives of their IP. The protocol, or more specifically the IP Assets and modules described above, are what automate and enforce those terms on-chain, creating a mapping between the legal world (PIL) and the blockchain.Like USDC enables redemption for fiat, the PIL enables redemption for IP.
Examples
Example #1
Example #1
Imagine you’re an artist who creates digital paintings, or a musician who makes original songs. You want to share your work online, but you want to ensure that if others use or change your work, they give you credit and—if they make money from it—you get a share. That’s where Story comes in. It’s a platform that uses technology to give IP owners like you control over how your work is used, tracked, and shared, so it’s both protected and fairly rewarded.Think of it like this: Suppose you upload a song to Story. Now, anyone can see that you’re the original creator, and if someone wants to remix it, they can do so through Story. The system then automatically tracks the remix as a “derivative” of your song and notes you as the original artist. This way, if the remix becomes popular and earns money, Story can help you earn a portion of those earnings, just like the remixer.
Example #2
Example #2
Let’s say a scientist uploads an image dataset to be used by artificial intelligence (AI) models for research. Through Story, that dataset is registered, so if any company uses it to train their AI, the original scientist is credited. If that dataset then contributes to a profitable AI application, Story ensures a fair share goes to the original contributor.With Story, you can share your work freely, knowing that wherever it goes, it’s tracked and fairly credited back to you. The idea is to create a fair environment for sharing, building upon, and growing creative work.