CreatorSeal

Every day, creators get their work stolen with no way to fight back. CreatorSeal gives you a cryptographic proof of ownership and a one click DMCA takedown in 30 seconds.

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Inspiration

Independent creators lose their work to theft every day with no simple way to prove ownership or fight back. We built CreatorSeal to give every creator a receipt for their work and a weapon to defend it.

What it does

CreatorSeal lets any creator upload a file and instantly receive a cryptographic certificate of ownership with a SHA-256 fingerprint, timestamp, and blockchain record anchored via OpenTimestamps to the Bitcoin blockchain. The hash is submitted to OpenTimestamps the moment the file is uploaded, creating a permanent and tamper-proof proof of prior creation that anyone can independently verify. They can then scan the web for unauthorized uses of their image using reverse image search. If a theft is found, one click generates and sends a legally formatted Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice directly to the platform's abuse contact with the certificate attached as proof.

How we built it

Backend in FastAPI with SQLite for certificate storage. File hashing using Python hashlib to generate a SHA-256 fingerprint of the raw file bytes. Each certificate is anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain via OpenTimestamps, which submits the hash and returns a verifiable timestamp receipt stored alongside the certificate. Image hosting via imgbb to generate a public URL for scanning. Reverse image search via SerpApi's Google Reverse Image endpoint. DMCA PDF generation using reportlab. Email delivery via Gmail SMTP. Frontend in React with Tailwind CSS.

Challenges we ran into

Getting reverse image search to work required the file to be publicly hosted first, which added the imgbb upload step. CORS configuration between the ngrok backend and the frontend needed careful handling. Generating a clean PDF server side and attaching it to an outgoing SMTP email in a single request took careful orchestration. Integrating OpenTimestamps required handling the asynchronous nature of blockchain confirmation while still returning an instant response to the user.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The entire protect, detect, and takedown flow works end to end in under 30 seconds. Every uploaded file gets a cryptographic fingerprint anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain via OpenTimestamps. The DMCA notice is legally formatted, auto-filled with cryptographic proof, and lands in the platform's abuse inbox with one click. No lawyer, no subscription, no crypto wallet required.

What we learned

How cryptographic hashing can serve as legal proof of prior creation. How OpenTimestamps uses the Bitcoin blockchain to create publicly verifiable timestamps without needing a wallet or paying fees. How reverse image search APIs work under the hood. How to send authenticated SMTP email with PDF attachments from a Python backend in a single request.

What's next for CreatorSeal

Automated weekly rescanning of registered works with email alerts when new matches are found. Audio fingerprinting for music creators. A mobile app so creators can register and protect work directly from their phone the moment they finish it.

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