AMA | Who owns creativity in the AI era? (Featuring Camp Network)

In this AMA, Joules Barragan, our Marketing Lead explores the rapidly evolving landscape of intellectual property (IP) in the age of generative AI. Joined by Mike Gin, APAC Lead from Camp Network, a key partner on the Sahara Data Services Platform, we discuss how AI is reshaping creative ownership. We delve into the challenges creators face with authorship and derivatives, and explore how new systems using blockchain and on-chain provenance can protect creative works, enable fair monetization, and foster a new era of collaborative creation. This session provides a clear look into how technologies like Camp Network are building the future of creative rights and ensuring creators get paid for their work.

Link: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ynKOMELXEAJR

Transcript

Joules: All right. And we are live! Hello, everyone. I'm Joules with Sahara AI and I'll be your host for today's AMA. The world is going through an IP revolution. AI tools are making it faster and easier than ever to create, remix and reimagine content. But they're also blurring the lines around authorship, originality, and what it means to have IP rights in this new landscape. The old rules for protecting creativity and your creative works are really starting to be stress-tested as new systems begin to emerge to fill these gaps. To help us explore this, I'm joined by Mike Gin, APAC Lead from Camp Network and one of our partners on the Sahara data services platform. Now, Camp Network is building tools for the future of creative IP, from generating new works with AI to minting them on chain, and even enabling users to register derivatives. They're also behind one of our latest data service platform tasks where you can create your own AI-generated IP, mint it, and then share it with the world while earning rewards from both Camp Network and Sahara AI. So, Mike, thank you so much for joining us today.

Mike: Hey everyone, thanks for having me here. I'm Mike Gin, APAC Lead at Camp Network and in case you're wondering, yes, my job is basically to make sure creators in this region get to have fun, get paid, and actually own their creative work in this new AI era. So, in short, we want the next Mona Lisa of the AI age to have a clear owner, even as it's being remixed into 10,000 TikToks and a heavy metal album cover.

Joules: Yeah, that's really cool. Your job is really cool. I'd love for us to take a little bit of a deeper dive. Before I ask you all these questions, could you just give us a quick overview of Camp's mission and how you see Camp's role in shaping the future of this creative IP beyond just the Mona Lisa?

Mike: Yeah, 100%. So Camp is all about one thing: making creative IP work better for both humans and machines. We give creators, whether you are a solo artist, a developer, or a giant studio, the tools to create with AI, register your work on-chain, and enable derivatives so others can build on your work with your permission and royalty intact. The biggest shift in the AI era is the speed and scale. Before AI, if you made something original, it might take months before someone copied or built on it. Now you can post a design in the morning and by lunch, there are 50 AI-generated spin-offs floating around on the net—some flattering, some not so flattering. This has totally flipped the ownership challenge. It's no longer about whether people will remix your work; it's about having a system where first, you can prove your owner's origin on Camp's module, and second, you can set rules for how others build on it. I don't think traditional copyright can catch up fast enough. It's like asking the postal service to regulate email. We need new systems designed for AI creation. And blockchain and smart contracts give us a programmable layer of rights. It's not replacing copyright overnight, but it's the first truly global, always-on IP registry.

Joules: That's excellent. Thank you. Obviously, I work at Sahara AI, so I'm really passionate about the idea of IP and all of this. I think generative AI has completely reshaped how people create in today's age. Whether that's digital art, whether it's writing music or even coding. Generative AI is not going away. And the line between something being original versus being a derivative is becoming even blurrier than it was before AI. I think instead of fighting this shift, the question is how can we build systems that protect creators, that encourage collaboration and that let creativity thrive in this new reality? Because AI can generate content in seconds, whether that's art, stories, songs, you name it. And that new creation is typically the result of an AI that's trained on vast amounts of existing work already. I'm curious Mike, from your perspective, what's the single biggest way that AI has changed how creators can claim ownership and prove authorship over their IP?

Mike: So here's the thing: remixing is the native language of the Internet. Memes, TikTok sounds, fan art—it's all remixing. So AI just turned the volume to 11. If we don't have a way to register and predict derivatives, we end up in one of two extremes. The first will be chaos, where no one knows who made what and creators give up. The second will be the lockdown where everyone is scared to remix and creative dies. We think the middle ground is to register remixing. You can build on others' work, but the original creator gets visibility and potential royalties. Think of it like jazz. You riff on someone else's theme, but everyone in the room knows whose song it started from. And yes, I just compared the blockchain to jazz, so please don't quote me on that. We have figured out a way with the blockchain, everything is transparent and has a timestamp, so it's a very good way to store anyone's work on that. And also the remixing, we pull up the AI tools for the creators. And when someone remixes, we know who remixed it. So that's our basic vision.

Joules: Can you explain really quickly what remixing is for the people who aren't aware?

Mike: Remixing is like, in short, it's a second creation. When others have some work, for example, I own a very cute Labubu. Of course the copyright is from Pop Mart, but I want to do a second creation on it. So I drew some pictures of this portrait. Maybe give him a hat or use it to make an animation. That's remixing.

Joules: Cool, thank you. And I want to follow up on something you said earlier about how we need new IP systems and we're not replacing the current IP system overnight. Do you believe that we're headed towards an entirely new IP system designed specifically for an AI era? Or do you think the existing copyright laws can realistically evolve to protect both human and AI-assisted creations?

Mike: Yeah, I think the evolution of the system is inevitable. Everything now is pretty slow. It takes months or even years to register a copyright in the Web2 era. But with blockchain, everything can be done in a few clicks. Provenance isn't just about bragging rights, it's about power. Right now, cloud platforms often control the audience and the revenue. With blockchain, it's proven that creators can bypass platforms entirely, connect directly with fans and prove they made it first, even if AI clones are flooding the feed. It's like having a timestamp, tamper-proof signature on your work that says, "Yes, this came from me. Yes, you can build on it. No, you can't pretend you made it first." So that shifts the balance from platforms deciding the rules to creators setting them. Taking Spotify as an example, 99% of the creators are actually spending money on creating music because most money is taken by Spotify. So Camp connects directly to the creators, the remixers and the business owners. That's why I think the evolution of IP rights is inevitable.

Joules: Yeah, it's a very fair point. We talked a lot about remixing and derivative IP. And remixing isn't new, right? But with AI now we can have an infinite number of variations or derivatives of the same concept within seconds of each other. Why is it important to have a formal way to register and attribute derivative works?

Mike: Yeah, this is a very good question. Right now AI doesn't have to be a threat to artists; it can be a new source of power. While most AI today trains on creative work without permission and composition, Camp flips the script. We give others the tools to license their IP to AI agents and earn from it. So instead of fearing AI, creators can now earn a profit from it. Camp enables creators to register their IP on-chain and set terms for how it's used, including by AI systems. Through programmable licensing, AI artists retain control and get paid every time their work contributes to AI training or outputs. Think of it like a royalties system for the AI era. Your creative DNA, your terms.

Joules: Yeah, I think that makes sense. It's just, it's really interesting. As a society, I think there's a lot of discourse between frameworks and whether or not we should be building frameworks that encourage responsible remixing or if we should be trying to restrict it, because "AI bad" or "AI good." I'm wondering how, from your perspective, do you make sure that these frameworks are fair for both the original creator and for the person that's building on top of it?

Mike: Yeah, let's get a deep dive. Traditional licensing structures have limited how IP is tracked, attributed and creative to be reused. Camp introduces the Origin and Matrix framework where IP can be minted, owned, remixed and monetized, all transparently and verifiably on-chain. This enables a new model of co-creation monetization by utilizing AI and blockchain with IP. First, Origin is a user onboarding and IP tokenization layer. The Origin SDK lets developers and users tokenize their creations into IP NFTs. Second, these IP NFTs can automatically stream into Matrix, Camp's AI framework. So the Matrix is basically the AI agent framework trained on user-owned IP. It's a modular agent system that trains on IP on Camp's registry, and enables intelligent remixing, co-creation and differentiated content generation, always with embedded attribution and monetization. Origin and Matrix together form the foundational infrastructure for scalable co-creation between IP and AI. A system where fans can build, remix and collaborate and where original creators are compensated in real time with royalties and distributions. Everyone who takes part gets their own profit. So on Camp, derivatives are as valuable as the source IP.

Joules: I was on mute, sorry. That was a really great breakdown of Camp Network. Thank you, Mike. I'm curious. So all of that is on-chain, which is amazing. I love the intersection of AI and blockchain. This place that we exist at is so magical to me and it's absolutely the future. I'm convinced that I used to be in Web3 for the longest time and then I was very passionate about AI. So now that I get to merge those two together, I'm super excited. I'm curious for Camp, using all of this blockchain for everything you just went through, beyond just proving who made it first, how does this kind of transparency, this transparent provenance that blockchain enables, and how does that shift the balance of power between creators, platforms and audiences? Especially when AI derivatives can really just flood the Internet with lookalike works?

Mike: Yeah, sure. So most AI today is trained on public Internet data, which means it often generates repetitive content. Camp changes that. With the Matrix framework anyone can launch an AI agent and train it on user-owned IP like Remix Trailheads, our NFT series. So it creates content that's original, personalized and fully on chain. This can unlock scalable collaborative creation. Using Camp's tools, you can create your own AI agent with Matrix in minutes, training it using on-chain IP that you've created or remixed. And the AI will generate unique outputs that carry built-in attribution and ownership tracking. Then with Origin, you can tokenize that new IP, giving it real-world value, enabling future royalties and co-creations all transparently on chain. If you're the user, you have the owner of the copyright, you can decide how you want to distribute it, who you want to give the license for, all depends on the owner itself. We use TE and zk-proofs to ensure the privacy for these works. If the owner says yes, then it's yes. If the owner says no, then no.

Joules: That's really cool. Now we're partnered, we have our data service platform tasks together. I'm curious. Through the data services platform we're inviting people to use Camp's remix platform to create AI-generated IP, to mint it, to share it, and then they get rewarded for it. What have you or your team learned from seeing how real users create and register their work? And has that helped validate or evolve your platform in any way?

Mike: Yeah. So working with Sahara DSP has been awesome because it's like watching a live stress test of our platform. We've seen everything from gorgeous original art to hilarious mashups like someone turning a cute mascot into a cyberpunk samurai. What we've learned is people want to play with remixing when they know it's safe and fair. And having a visible on-chain record makes them more likely to credit the original, helping us to refine our UX. So registering a work feels as easy as posting on social media, but with way better protection. And another high-level philosophical thing is that there's a question I've always wanted to ask when I was really young, "is human emotion programmable?" When we listen to good music, when we see Taylor Swift's face, we feel happy. I think something in our genes and our brain is programmed to like it. So we want to find the features that make us like it. For example, Labubu is quite cute. Taylor Swift's entire songs with it's very popular. Why it's popular, it's not only because it's Taylor Swift, but also because of the melody, how Taylor Swift made it and how the artists drew Labubu with the cutest, the fluffy hair and also the rabbit ear. There's all kinds of complicated combinations that programmed us to like them. So with Sahara's DSP, we would like to explore these features, these combinations of the popularity and human attention.

Joules: Awesome. You've mentioned Labubu quite a few times during this stream. So I have one last question for you, Mike. Do you own a Labubu?

Mike: Yeah, I have a lot actually. We bought a lot of Labubus for the giveaways. They're so good.

Joules: That's awesome. That's so cool. I got a few. I got lucky. They were given to me as a gift and I'm completely, unfortunately , obsessed with them.

Mike: So yeah, I think we are programmed to be obsessed with them.

Joules: Yeah, I know. I had one of my friends, I made her take them all to work on her purse. So she had like seven Labubu on her purse walking in and she said everybody was talking about her.

Mike: Yeah, crazy.

Joules: We do. I do want to make sure that we take time for the audience's questions. So we do have quite a few questions from the audience already. If you have any more questions, go ahead and just leave them in the comments for this stage and I will get to them during this stream. So let me see. The first question we have, Mike, is, "What's the most creative or unexpected IP you've seen minted so far on the platform?"

Mike: Yeah, so it's a very good question. One user made a remix chain that went 12 layers deep. It started as a photo of a cat, and ended as a sci-fi battle poster with zero cats. That was incredible.

Joules: That's pretty cool. Let's see. "How do you handle disputes or overlapping claims when two works are very similar or share the same source material?"

Mike: First, our system shows creation timestamps. If two works are suspiciously similar, the timeline speaks for itself. We also have a community review and process for the edge cases. And we also have a dispute system. If the owner of the IP had their work stolen, they can go to our platform to claim their originality. So once the originality is proved offline, then their original will be stored on-chain and they will get royalties immediately.

Joules: That's awesome. Let's see. "Could this model of registered remixing work beyond images, such as music, video or writing?"

Mike: Absolutely. Images are just a start because they are easy to maintain and share. The framework works for any digital asset.

Joules: Yeah, I love that. I feel like a lot of the AI companies now, they either focus on one. I've seen a lot are focused specifically on writing or code or images. And slowly everybody's starting to trickle out and broaden everything. Once they find their niche, it's really cool to see how much the landscape is evolving.

Mike: Yeah, everything is IP.

Joules: Yeah, everything is IP. It's true. I think that's one thing that has been interesting about this cycle is before the narrative was always about data and owning your data. And obviously at Sahara we're still very pro your data, your AI data, knowledge, IP, they're all the same thing. It's just different words for saying it. So it's really interesting to see where the narratives are going and which ones people latch onto. It's fascinating. Speaking of IP, here's a question. "Do you think IP minting will become a standard practice for all AI generated creative works in the future?"

Mike: Yeah, I think so. Just like most photos today have metadata, most AI generated works will eventually have an on-chain origin stamp.

Joules: Yeah, I completely agree with that 100%. I think we have a few more questions here before we run out of time. "What advice would you give to creators who want to protect their work in the rapidly evolving AI era?"

Mike: Start building your IP trail now on Camp, even if it's for fun. You'll thank yourself later.

Joules: How easy is it to use Camp?

Mike: Yeah, it's very UX friendly. Everything is abstracted. You don't need to download MetaMask or have an exchange wallet. You can register with an email in Web2 and also on our minting page, it's quite easy. You just need to upload. It's just like minting an NFT on OpenSea for now, upload an image, type a few descriptions and mint.

Joules: Okay, and then here's another one. "If I upload my work to Camp, do I need to make it accessible for remixing?"

Mike: Right now I think it's a gradual process. It's still in development but our mainnet will be live soon. Transparency is the key model, so works are traceable. It's easier to address issues early. Afterwards, the TE module and also ZK module will be embedded. Then you can customize how you want to trace your work. Okay, cool.

Joules: And then I just see a lot of the other questions are like repeats of questions that we've already answered. A few people said, "Hi Mike." Okay, with that. I just want to thank you again, Mike. Thanks for showing up. Thanks for Camp Network for joining us. And to all of you who tuned in today, if you haven't already please, please go check out Camp Network the Remix IP creation challenge on our Sahara data services platform. You can find the links on our X page. All you have to do is go create your own AI-generated IP, mint it on-chain and then share it on X. Make sure that you tag the right things that you need to tag. All of the rules are going to be on the data services platform. You'll get to earn Camp, you'll get to earn Sahara tokens. And there are some more data service platform things that we're doing with Camp Network that I can't reveal yet. But announcements are incoming this week, so definitely keep your eyes peeled for that. But yeah, Mike, do you have anything else you want to shout out before we go?

Mike: Yeah. Thanks, Joules. And thanks to everyone who joined. If you haven't yet tried a Camp Remix IP Creation challenge on the Sahara DSP, make something wild, mint it and put your name in the blockchain history books or at least on the remix leaderboard. At Camp, we believe the future of creative IP isn't human versus AI. It's humans and AI building together, but with clear rules and fair rewards. So go create something today and make sure you actually own it tomorrow.

Joules: Awesome. Thank you, Mike. Thank you everybody. Have a good day.

Mike: Thanks everybody. Have a good day.