S\P

Playbook

Creator Playbook

How creators use SOVEREIGN\PROVENANCE to protect their work, establish provenance, and control usage rights.

Creator Playbook

How creators use SOVEREIGN\PROVENANCE to protect their work

Who This Is For

This playbook is for individual creators: artists, writers, musicians, developers, and content creators who want to protect their digital work, establish provenance, and control how their work is used.

What You Can Do

With SOVEREIGN\PROVENANCE, you can:

  • Establish your identity - Create a sovereign identity tied to your public key
  • Issue passports - Generate provenance certificates for your work
  • Set rights - Declare usage rules (attribution, derivatives, AI training, commercial use)
  • Track usage - See how your work is used and where it appears
  • Prove ownership - Verify provenance and prove you created the work

Provenance Bar (browser extension)

Provenance Bar is the free SOVEREIGN\PROVENANCE browser extension. Use it to seal work with one click from Google Docs, Notion, Figma, Canva, WordPress, Substack, GitHub, and other supported platforms—no API or SDK required.

  1. Install — Download Provenance Bar for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
  2. Create — Work in your usual tool (e.g. a doc in Notion).
  3. Seal — Click the Provenance Bar icon, add title and license, then click Seal with Provenance.
  4. Share — Use the proof link and optional badge to show provenance.

The extension works with or without a Creator Shield account. For full identity, passports, and Accord rights, pair it with Creator Shield. See Provenance Bar extension guide for details.

Overview

SOVEREIGN\PROVENANCE gives creators sovereign control over their digital work, tracking origin, controlling usage, and maintaining lineage.

Issue Your First Passport

This is a concrete flow to get you started. Follow these steps to issue your first passport for a piece of work.

Step 1: Establish Your Identity

import { createSovProvClient } from '@sovprovenance/sdk-js';

const client = createSovProvClient({
  baseUrl: 'https://api.sovereign.provenance',
  apiKey: 'your-api-key',
});

// Create your identity
const identity = await client.createIdentity({
  publicKey: 'your-public-key',
  metadata: {
    name: 'Your Name',
    type: 'individual',
    website: 'https://yourwebsite.com',
  },
});

Step 2: Seal Your Artwork

When you create a new piece, generate a seal:

// Generate seal for your artwork
const seal = await client.generateSeal(artworkData, {
  contentType: 'image',
  algorithm: 'sha256-frag-v1',
  version: '1.0',
});

Step 3: Create a Passport

Now create the passport that binds everything together:

const passport = await client.createPassport({
  identityId: identity.id,
  sealId: seal.id,
  metadata: {
    artifactType: 'image',
    title: 'My Digital Artwork',
    createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
    tags: ['art', 'digital', 'nft'],
  },
});

Step 4: Declare Your Rights

Set usage rules via Accord:

const accord = await client.createAccord({
  attribution: 'required',
  derivatives: 'restricted', // Require permission for derivatives
  aiTraining: 'opt_out', // Don't allow AI training
  commercial: 'licensed', // Commercial use requires license
});

// Link accord to passport
await client.updateRights(passport.id, {
  accordId: accord.id,
});

Use Cases

Protecting Original Work

  1. Create identity
  2. Seal artwork
  3. Create passport
  4. Declare rights (no derivatives, no AI training)
  5. Share passport ID publicly

Licensing Derivatives

  1. Set derivatives to "restricted"
  2. When someone requests derivative:
    • They evaluate use via API
    • You review and approve
    • Update accord if needed
    • Derivative gets linked in lineage

Tracking Usage

// Query ledger for your work
const events = await client.listEvents({
  identity: identity.id,
  type: 'passport_created',
});

Proving Ownership

// Verify your passport
const verification = await client.verifyPassport(passport.id);
// Returns: { valid: true, errors: [] }

Best Practices

  1. Seal Early - Seal your work as soon as it's created
  2. Be Specific - Use detailed metadata (title, tags, description)
  3. Update Rights - Adjust rights as needed over time
  4. Monitor Lineage - Check for derivatives regularly
  5. Share Passports - Include passport ID when sharing work

Integration Examples

Website Integration

<!-- Display passport badge -->
<div class="provenance-badge">
  <a href="https://explorer.sovereign.provenance/passport/{{passportId}}">
    Verified Provenance
  </a>
</div>

Social Media

Include passport ID in posts:

Check out my new artwork!
Provenance: https://explorer.sovereign.provenance/passport/urn:sp:passport:...

Resources