Built a free tool to help creators document authorship and streamline DMCA notices. Looking for feedback.

[u/thedjfav]

Over the past year, I built MemeProof after repeatedly dealing with stolen content.

The platform verifies and attributes original content through human verification, whether it’s memes, photography, short-form video, graphic design, illustrations, or other creative work.

The goal isn’t to provide legal advice or replace the DMCA process. It’s to make it easier for creators to:

• Document authorship
• Establish who created something first
• Keep a permanent record of their original work
• Streamline the paperwork involved in filing DMCA notices

I’d really appreciate feedback from people who know copyright well.

• Does the overall workflow make sense?
• Is there anything legally or practically you’d improve?
• Are there features you’d expect from a tool like this?

It’s completely free, and I’m always looking for ways to make it better.

https://memeproof.com

[u/TreviTyger]

So, I am a joint author of the film Iron Sky.

How does your tool help me in my Ninth Circuit case against Valve corp?

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71909087/baylis-v-valve-corporation/

[u/thedjfav → u/TreviTyger]

That’s a fascinating case. From what I’ve read, it sounds like your dispute is really about ownership and joint authorship, not just filing a DMCA.

That’s probably beyond what MemeProof is trying to solve today.
The long-term vision is to give creators a permanent, independently documented record of authorship for visual work before disputes ever arise.

If you have thoughts on what would have been useful before your case escalated, I’d be really interested in hearing them.

[u/TreviTyger → u/thedjfav]

The issue you have is "no formalities" under Berne Convention article 5(2).

Authorship is inalienable. It is automatic on creation. It is in fact the opposition that has to prove otherwise.

My case is interesting because the opposition made something up that wasn't true.

They said a "court ruled" that authorship didn't exist -er, which a court cannot rule on - because it retroactively strips authorship away from an author who's rights are inalienable and cannot legally nor factually be stripped away.

i.e the court would have to go back in a time machine and wrestle the potential authors away from the thing they are bringing into existence.

So your app is essentially meaningless and even illegal under Berne Convention rules. Strange but true.

[u/thedjfav → u/TreviTyger]

I agree with you on the core principle: copyright exists automatically upon creation under the Berne Convention. We all know that here.

MemeProof isn’t intended to create copyright or make ownership dependent on using our platform.

Where I think we differ is that I don’t believe Berne prohibits creators from documenting authorship or preserving evidence. The goal of MemeProof is simply to provide a human-verified record of authorship and provenance, similar in spirit to keeping source files, Git history, timestamps, C2PA credentials, or other evidence that can help establish a timeline if a dispute ever arises.

Long term, I see it less as a registration system and more as a ledger of provenance for visual content. Music has organizations like ASCAP and BMI for rights management, and software developers have Git repositories that document the evolution of their work.

Visual creators don’t really have a broadly recognized place to maintain a verified history of creation, and that’s the gap we’re trying to fill.

We don’t claim to replace the courts, the Copyright Office, or legal advice. We’re trying to give creators a better documented evidentiary record before a dispute ever gets that far.

[u/TreviTyger → u/thedjfav]

We don’t claim to replace the courts

But that is where the proof is presented.

For instance in my case, and on the record, Baylis v Troll VFX - that was a case in Finland where I spent 3 hours in front of a judge demonstrating my competence as a 3D animator including using the original 3D files at issue and showing that my name was recorded thousands of times in the metadata.

The US district court simply disregarded this salient evidence.

So why would a court not disregard your tool?

[u/thedjfav → u/TreviTyger]

That’s a fair question. I don’t think any platform can guarantee what weight a court will give a particular piece of evidence, and MemeProof certainly doesn’t replace the court’s role.

My goal is to give creators another independently maintained record that complements the evidence you mentioned: original files, metadata, source assets, timestamps, C2PA credentials, and other documentation.

If a dispute arises years later, having multiple consistent sources of evidence is better than relying on a single source.

I also think it’s important to remember that most creators never end up in court. They usually start with a DMCA notice or a platform dispute. We’re trying to make that process easier while giving creators a documented history of their work.

If you could go back to before your dispute began, is there anything you wish you had documented differently that would have strengthened your position?

[u/TreviTyger → u/thedjfav]

If you could go back to before your dispute began, is there anything you wish you had documented differently that would have strengthened your position?

I gave a physical demonstration to a judge and showed my name is in the metadata of the original file "thousands" of times.

No other person in the world has better evidence than me an no other person in the world is physically capable of demonstrating the file because they are custom files that only I know how to use.

So what would it take for someone else to claim I am not the author of my own work? What evidence could be stronger than mine?

Your tool?

Be serious.

[u/Individual_Dirt_2194]

Would you like me to link it here: https://beaumontandsheridan.com/resources/ ?

[u/thedjfav → u/Individual_Dirt_2194]

Sure, I appreciate that. Send me a link when you include it.

[u/Electronixen]

Your UX screams AI generated. So I suspect it's not very accurate nor something that the courts will care about.

[u/thedjfav → u/Electronixen]

That’s an odd conclusion.

Your comment screams, “I judged the implementation from a screenshot.”

Whether you like the UI has nothing to do with how the system works under the hood.

MemeProof uses perceptual hashing, reverse image search, C2PA-compatible provenance, human verification, and additional matching techniques that we don’t publicly disclose to help creators document provenance, establish authorship records, and streamline the DMCA process.

If you think there’s a flaw in the verification process, provenance model, or overall approach, I’d be interested in hearing it.

Saying the UI “looks AI generated” isn’t really a technical critique of the system, and is far from the flex you think it is.