Palimpsest License

Creative Content Attribution for the AI Era

[Conference Name] | [Date]
palimpsest-license.org

The Problem

AI systems scrape billions of creative works

Attribution is lost

Context is stripped

Consent is ignored

Real-World Impact

  • Diaspora narratives extracted without credit
  • Protest art training surveillance systems
  • Cultural heritage commodified
  • Creators lose control over their work

Technical Failures

Metadata Loss

  • EXIF stripped from images
  • HTML comments removed
  • License info discarded

Consent Gaps

  • robots.txt ignored
  • No AI-specific signals
  • Terms of Service unenforceable

The Palimpsest License

A layered licensing framework for creative work in the age of AI

Core Principles

  1. Emotional Lineage: Protect narrative context and cultural significance
  2. Layered Consent: Distinguish interpretive vs. non-interpretive AI
  3. Quantum-Proof Traceability: Future-proof attribution
  4. DAO Governance: Collective rights management

Key Clauses

  • Clause 1.2: Non-interpretive AI systems require explicit consent
  • Clause 2.3: Metadata preservation is mandatory
  • Clause 3.4: Emotional and symbolic texture must be preserved

Technical Mechanisms

Three layers of infrastructure

1. DNS-Based License Discovery

_license.example.com. 3600 IN TXT "palimpsest-v0.4"
_license.example.com. 3600 IN TXT "ai-consent=interpretive-only"
  • Automated license detection
  • DNSSEC authentication
  • Low latency (cached)

2. HTTP Header Extensions

X-License-URI: https://example.com/palimpsest.html
X-AI-Consent: non-interpretive-prohibited
X-Attribution-Chain: sha256:abc123...
X-Emotional-Lineage: protest-song; cultural-heritage
  • Inline consent signalling
  • CDN-compatible
  • ~200 bytes overhead

3. Metadata Preservation

  • Images: EXIF/IPTC preservation
  • HTML: JSON-LD structured data
  • Documents: XMP metadata
  • All formats: Content-addressable attribution chains

Quantum-Proof Attribution

  • Post-quantum cryptographic signatures
  • Merkle trees for derivative tracking
  • Distributed ledger integration (non-cryptocurrency)
  • Future-proof against quantum computing attacks

Deployment Strategies

Practical implementation paths

For Web Servers

# nginx configuration
add_header X-License-URI "https://example.com/license.html" always;
add_header X-AI-Consent "non-interpretive-prohibited" always;
proxy_pass_header X-Attribution-Chain;

Similar configs for Apache, Caddy, etc.

For CDNs

  • Preserve metadata headers through caching layers
  • Avoid aggressive image optimisation that strips EXIF
  • Edge computing for license validation
  • Examples: Cloudflare Workers, Fastly Compute@Edge

For Content Platforms

  • WordPress plugin (in development)
  • GitHub integration via .license file
  • CMS modules (Drupal, Joomla)
  • Creative software export templates

Governance Model

The Palimpsest Stewardship Council

Council Composition

  • 3 Creator Representatives
  • 2 Legal Experts (IP, Dutch/Scottish law)
  • 1 Technologist (AI ethics/decentralised systems)
  • 1 Cultural Heritage Advocate

Creator-majority ensures community control

Decision-Making

  • Minor versions: 4/7 Council vote, 30-day consultation
  • Major versions: 6/7 Council vote, 90-day review
  • Transparency: All decisions publicly documented
  • Community input: Open GitHub discussions

Use Cases

Diaspora Storytelling

"My family's migration story was scraped and used to train a chatbot. The AI reproduced our trauma without context, without consent, without credit. Palimpsest helps me protect what matters."

— Elena, Romanian-born writer

Protest Art

"My artwork from climate protests ended up training surveillance systems. The same images I created to resist authority are now used to surveil activists. I need a license that says: interpretive use only."

— Kofi, activist artist

Cultural Heritage

  • British Library digitised collections
  • Indigenous knowledge preservation
  • Minority language documentation
  • Museum archives and annotations

Protecting context and cultural significance

Regulatory Alignment

European Union

  • AI Act: Training data documentation requirements
  • DSA: Content traceability obligations
  • Copyright Directive: Platform liability
  • GDPR: Privacy-by-design

United Kingdom

  • Online Safety Act: Traceability requirements
  • IPO AI Consultation: Copyright and AI
  • Scottish Law: Separate jurisdiction considerations

International

  • UDHR Article 27: Cultural rights
  • UNDRIP: Indigenous peoples' rights
  • Berne Convention: Moral rights

Questions?

Get Involved

Next Steps

  1. Gather feedback from this session
  2. Refine technical specifications
  3. Coordinate pilot deployments
  4. Develop standards proposals (IETF, W3C)
  5. Build community and coalitions

Thank You

Let's protect creators in the AI age

palimpsest-license.org
[Organiser contact information]