Generative AI is revolutionizing creativity, but it also exposes deep cracks in how ownership and intellectual property (IP) are managed. Most models are trained on vast datasets scraped from the internet, raising questions about whether creators gave consent, and how they can be recognized or compensated when their work is reused (Balan et al., 2023).
One promising answer lies in blockchain whose immutable, decentralized ledger, can record provenance, encode usage rights, and automate payments. The DECORAIT project shows how this could work: it allows creators to opt in or opt out of AI training, embeds provenance metadata through the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, and uses smart contracts to distribute rewards whenever a creator’s content contributes to a synthetic output (Balan et al., 2023).
Blockchain can underpin decentralized data marketplaces, allowing creators to monetize AI training data directly, while NFTs serve as tamper-proof certificates of authenticity and enable secondary royalties (Telles, 2025). Consulting leaders argue that blockchain may become the first mainstream safeguard against GenAI-driven IP risks. Encoding corporate knowledge assets (such as contracts, white papers, and presentations) into NFTs with embedded permissions, organizations could control how AI systems access and reuse their data (KPMG, 2023). Such mechanisms not only create new revenue models and reduce reliance on intermediaries but could also lower the risk of costly lawsuits, like the Getty Images case against Stability AI over alleged copyright misuse.
While challenges like blockchain scalability or regulatory uncertainty remain, the direction is clear. As GenAI blurs the boundary between human and machine creativity, blockchain provides a foundation for consent, attribution, and compensation which ensures that creators remain empowered in the AI economy.
Balan, K., Black, A., Jenni, S., Gilbert, A., Parsons, A., & Collomosse, J. (2023, September 25). DECORAIT — DECentralized Opt-in/out Registry for AI Training. arXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.14400v1
Blockchain and generative AI: A perfect pairing? (2023). KPMG. https://kpmg.com/us/en/articles/2023/blockchain-artificial-intelligence.html
Telles, Y. (2025, March 6). Generative AI and blockchain. Ventionteams. Retrieved September 19, 2025, from https://ventionteams.com/blog/generative-ai-blockchain
Popple, L. (2025, July 29). Getty Images v Stability AI: where are we after the trial – copyright? Taylor Wessing. https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2025/07/getty-v-stability
How it works – Content Authenticity Initiative. (n.d.). https://contentauthenticity.org/how-it-works/
