Your Character Is More Than a Chat: Introducing Verifiable Character IP on ImagiPortal

An original character can begin with a name, an image, and a personality but it can grow into much more.

It may become the center of a community, appear in stories and videos, inspire collaborations, or develop into an entire creative universe. As characters move between platforms and formats, creators need a clearer way to connect their identity to what they have built.

Today, we are introducing character IP registration on ImagiPortal.

Creators can now register eligible original characters as IP Assets on the DATA Network. Registration creates a permanent, publicly verifiable record connected to the character and assigns an ownership NFT to the creator’s account.

It is a new foundation for character provenance today and for licensing, collaboration, and creator-led economies in the future.

Why character provenance matters

Digital characters are easy to publish, share, remix, and move between communities. That openness creates exciting possibilities, but it can also make a character’s origin difficult to trace.

Who introduced the character? What did it look like when it was registered? Which creator account is connected to it? Where can someone verify that record?

ImagiPortal’s IP feature creates a durable answer to those questions.

Registration records the character as an IP Asset on the DATA Network, a public network with dedicated infrastructure for IP and licensing. Each registered character receives a unique IP Asset ID, an ownership NFT, a registration timestamp, and publicly accessible proof links.

The goal is straightforward: make the connection between a creator and an original character easier to verify.

How registration works

IP registration is optional and always requires explicit creator confirmation.

There are two ways to begin:

While submitting a private character for publication: select Register my character as Intellectual Property (IP) before sending it for review. If the character is approved and eligible, registration begins after it becomes public.
For an existing public character: open the character’s Publishing & Marketplace settings, find the IP section, and select Register IP.

ImagiPortal then prepares the registration in several stages.

1. The character must be public and eligible

A private draft cannot be registered immediately. The character must first be approved for publication in the Arena or already be public.

This connects the permanent IP record to a finished, identifiable character rather than an incomplete draft.

Creators must also confirm that they want to create the record and that they understand its public, permanent nature.

2. The character files are preserved

ImagiPortal captures the character’s image and prepares structured IP metadata containing details such as:

Character name and description
Character ID
Creation date
Character style and attributes
Creator information
A link back to the character
The registered image and its media type

The image, IP metadata, and ownership NFT metadata are stored through IPFS.

Importantly, the system calculates a cryptographic SHA-256 hash from the exact bytes of each registered file. Those hashes are included in the registration, creating a way to verify that the files being viewed later match the files associated with the original record.

This is more meaningful than recording a normal web address, because an address can point to changing content. A content hash acts as a fingerprint of the registered file.

3. An ownership NFT is assigned to the creator

Each creator receives an embedded wallet connected to their verified ImagiPortal account. The wallet works behind the scenes, so creators do not need to configure a separate wallet or understand blockchain tools to register a character.

The ownership NFT is minted directly to that wallet, not to ImagiPortal’s registration account.

After the transaction, the backend verifies that the NFT owner matches the creator’s wallet before marking the registration as complete.

On the DATA Network, an IP Asset Token acts as the blockchain representation of an IP registration and can include information such as the asset name, owner, source, registration date, and status.

Learn more about IP Asset Tokens in the DATA Foundation’s terms.

4. The character receives an IP badge

When registration is complete, the character receives an IP badge on ImagiPortal.

Its IP panel displays:

The ownership NFT
The IP Asset ID
The registration date
A link to view the ownership NFT
A link to view the public IP record

These links allow fans, collaborators, and potential partners to inspect the record independently.

The DATA Network provides both a public transaction explorer and a dedicated IP Explorer for IP-related actions.

Explore the official DATA Network documentation.

What the IP record provides

The new feature provides a permanent, timestamped record connecting:

A specific character
The character’s registered image and metadata
A creator account and embedded wallet
An ownership NFT
A public network transaction

This can strengthen provenance and make the character’s origin easier to demonstrate.

Registration also gives the character a technical foundation for future licensing workflows. Structured records can make it easier to identify an asset, find its owner, present usage terms, and connect licenses or royalties to the correct work.

What registration does not do

It is equally important to be clear about what the feature does not provide.

ImagiPortal IP registration is not government copyright registration, does not determine whether every part of a character qualifies for copyright protection, and does not independently confirm that uploaded material is free from third-party rights.

Copyright rules differ by jurisdiction. WIPO explains that copyright generally arises automatically without registration and that unofficial registration services do not confer international copyright recognition. Voluntary records can still be useful for documenting creation and supporting transactions, but they should not be confused with registration through a national copyright authority.

Read WIPO’s copyright overview.

Creators should therefore register only original work they created or material for which they have all necessary rights and permissions.

The distinction is especially important for AI-assisted work. In the United States, the Copyright Office has stated that using AI as an assistive tool does not prevent protection, but copyrightability depends on sufficient human authorship and must be evaluated case by case. Purely AI-generated material, or prompting alone, may not qualify.

Read the U.S. Copyright Office’s guidance on AI and copyright.

The IP record documents what was registered, when it was registered, and which account received the ownership token. It does not replace legal advice, statutory registration, or a court’s determination of rights.

Registration is not automatically a license

Registering a character also does not give other people permission to use it.

A license is a defined authorization from a rights holder. It should explain matters such as:

Which parts of the character may be used
Whether commercial use is permitted
Whether modifications or derivative works are allowed
Whether attribution is required
Where and for how long the license applies
Whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive
What fees, royalties, or revenue sharing apply

The DATA Foundation describes these as core building blocks of an IP license.

Read the DATA Foundation’s introduction to IP licensing.

In the current ImagiPortal rollout, IP registration creates the ownership and provenance record. It does not silently attach commercial remix rights or automatically place the character on sale.

Until explicit license terms are presented and accepted, registration should not be interpreted as permission for another party to use, reproduce, commercialize, or adapt the character.

Publishing, Marketplace, and IP are separate controls

ImagiPortal now gives creators three related but distinct layers:

Publishing controls whether the character appears publicly in the Arena.
Marketplace controls its availability and monetization settings.
IP registration creates its permanent, verifiable record on the DATA Network.

Registering IP does not automatically list a character on the Marketplace. Marketplace settings do not automatically grant a license.

Unpublishing a character removes it from Arena discovery, but it does not erase an IP record already written to the public network.

This separation keeps creators in control while making each action easier to understand.

Building beyond the first interaction

We believe characters should be able to grow beyond a single conversation.

A character may become a recurring personality, a story protagonist, a virtual performer, a community icon, or the beginning of a larger fictional world. For that growth to be sustainable, creators need infrastructure that treats characters as works they are building, not simply content passing through a feed.

Verifiable IP registration is one part of that infrastructure.

It creates a durable origin point. It makes ownership records easier to inspect. And it prepares registered characters for a future in which permissions, collaborations, derivative works, and royalties can be expressed more clearly.

This is only the beginning. We will continue developing tools around character ownership, licensing, collaboration, and creator monetization while keeping the experience understandable for creators who have never used blockchain technology.

Register your character IP

To get started:

Open a character you own.
Go to Publishing & Marketplace.
Find the Intellectual Property (IP) section.
Select Register IP.
Review the permanent registration notice and confirm.

You can also request IP registration while submitting an eligible private character for publication.

Once registration is complete, ImagiPortal will notify you and display the character’s ownership NFT and public IP record.

Your characters. Your IP. Build what lasts.

This article is for general product information and does not constitute legal advice. Copyright ownership and protection depend on the work, the creator’s contribution, applicable agreements, and the laws of the relevant jurisdiction.