A robust protocol for proving ownership of multimedia content

We explore the problem of proving ownership or origin of multimedia content like image/video or audio signals through watermarking. The need for watermarking arises out of the insufficiency of present copyright laws for claiming ownership of digital content. Watermarking schemes however, are threatened by counterfeit attacks, which primarily use the freedom available in choice of signature or choice of the watermarking method. A restrictive protocol for watermarking could go a long way in rendering counterfeit attacks extremely difficult. We suggest a comprehensive protocol as an extension of the one suggested by Craver et al. , that makes it possible for the true owner to claim ownership unambiguously, while making it extremely difficult for a pirate to do so.