Phash-enhanced Merkle Tree: An Advanced Approach for Detecting and Preventing Copyright Violations in Nft Marketplaces

Phash-enhanced Merkle Tree: An Advanced Approach for Detecting and Preventing Copyright Violations in Nft Marketplaces | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Phash-enhanced Merkle Tree: An Advanced Approach for Detecting and Preventing Copyright Violations in Nft Marketplaces Tien Luong Trinh, Minh Thanh Ta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7335277/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In the rapidly growing NFT (Non-Fungible Token) market, the increasing popularity and widespread trading of NFTs on digital platforms have led to a rise in the copying and counterfeiting of digital artworks, making it more difficult to protect the rights of artists and creators. One of the greatest challenges is ensuring the exclusivity of digital works, as malicious actors can easily copy, modify, and repost NFTs without detection. This paper proposes a method to protect NFT creators’ information, particularly regarding digital image works. The method uses Merkle Trees to detect similarities between images, helping to identify and prevent content duplication and counterfeiting. This approach not only aids creators in protecting their rights but also ensures transparency and fairness in the NFT market, where competition is becoming increasingly intense. Furthermore, the proposed method contributes to enhancing the credibility of NFT platforms, as users can easily verify the authenticity and provenance of digital artworks. This system helps creators avoid losing their rights due to content duplication and establishes a stringent control mechanism, contributing to the creation of a secure and sustainable trading environment in the NFT market. Through the experimental results, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of this method in detecting copied works and ensuring the authenticity of registered NFTs. Therefore, this paper provides an important solution that supports the protection of NFT creators’ rights and creates a technological platform that minimizes fraud and counterfeiting issues in the current NFT market. Merkle Tree pHash Blockchain IPFS Content Duplication Detection Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7335277","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":523792117,"identity":"74bc8255-00e0-4025-879b-6df3df8f754b","order_by":0,"name":"Tien Luong Trinh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tien","middleName":"Luong","lastName":"Trinh","suffix":""},{"id":523792118,"identity":"536f859b-a409-43dc-af78-aac797f5a690","order_by":1,"name":"Minh Thanh Ta","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQYGZiAlx8fAYADiMzYQ0sED1pLAYMzGwGDYQJKWxDaitdhLNz97XPhjW3obe/L2xzwMNrIbDvCYPcBri8wxc+MZCbdz23ieFTbzMKQZA7WYG+B3WIKZNA9Ii0SOIVDL4cQNB9jSJPBrSf8G0pLOBtHynxgtOWBbEqBaDgC1MB/Dr+VGTpk0T9ptQ5BfZs4xSDaeeZiAFvYZ6dukeWxuy/OzJ2/48KbCTrbveGMbXi1IIIEBkgCYiVQP1TIKRsEoGAWjAAsAAF3fQzMUkns8AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Minh","middleName":"Thanh","lastName":"Ta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-09 17:23:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7335277/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7335277/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92686082,"identity":"758b9716-7230-4bb7-8b7e-94dd4db07e8c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-03 03:28:06","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4275,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"821830c16214494f91d8cbc0801e15ad.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7335277/v1/1077572818a2ae7ab2f91297.json"},{"id":96711259,"identity":"3425a3c9-2ead-476f-94bb-27fbcbd27188","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:11:49","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1527680,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BlockchainMerkleTreeJST1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7335277/v1_covered_6f393698-682f-4207-b8da-17da978c6a17.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003ePhash-enhanced Merkle Tree: An Advanced Approach for Detecting and Preventing Copyright Violations in Nft Marketplaces\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Merkle Tree, pHash, Blockchain, IPFS, Content Duplication Detection","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7335277/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7335277/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In the rapidly growing NFT (Non-Fungible Token) market, the increasing popularity and widespread trading of NFTs on digital platforms have led to a rise in the copying and counterfeiting of digital artworks, making it more difficult to protect the rights of artists and creators. One of the greatest challenges is ensuring the exclusivity of digital works, as malicious actors can easily copy, modify, and repost NFTs without detection. This paper proposes a method to protect NFT creators’ information, particularly regarding digital image works. The method uses Merkle Trees to detect similarities between images, helping to identify and prevent content duplication and counterfeiting. This approach not only aids creators in protecting their rights but also ensures transparency and fairness in the NFT market, where competition is becoming increasingly intense. Furthermore, the proposed method contributes to enhancing the credibility of NFT platforms, as users can easily verify the authenticity and provenance of digital artworks. This system helps creators avoid losing their rights due to content duplication and establishes a stringent control mechanism, contributing to the creation of a secure and sustainable trading environment in the NFT market. 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