Blockchain-Integrated Reversible Data Hiding Scheme for Secure Ownership Authentication and Copyright Protection in Digital Media

ABSTRACT The rapid proliferation of digital multimedia distribution platforms has intensified challenges related to copyright infringement, unauthorized redistribution, and content tampering. Conventional digital watermarking techniques provide ownership identification but often introduce irreversible distortion, making them unsuitable for sensitive applications requiring perfect data recovery. This study proposes a Blockchain-Integrated Reversible Data Hiding (BI-RDH) framework for secure ownership authentication and copyright protection in digital media. The proposed system combines Prediction Error Expansion (PEE)-based reversible watermarking with SHA-256 hash generation and smart contract-enabled blockchain registration to ensure decentralized, tamper-proof verification. The reversible embedding algorithm guarantees perfect host image recovery while maintaining high perceptual quality. Experimental evaluations conducted on standard benchmark image datasets demonstrate that the proposed scheme achieves Peak Signal-to-e Ratio (PSNR) values above 48 dB and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) values exceeding 0.98 across payload capacities up to 0.5 bits per pixel (bpp). Comparative analysis with classical reversible data hiding techniques shows an average PSNR improvement of 4–6 dB. Blockchain performance analysis reveals linear scalability in gas consumption (42,000–49,500 units) and acceptable transaction latency (12–23 seconds), indicating practical feasibility for copyright registration applications. Security analysis confirms resistance against tampering, replay attacks, and unauthorized ownership claims due to immutable blockchain timestamps and embedded watermark validation. The integration of reversible watermarking with decentralized ledger technology provides a dual-layer protection mechanism that enhances trust, transparency, and data integrity. The proposed BI-RDH framework demonstrates significant potential for secure multimedia authentication in digital art, medical imaging, academic publishing, and intellectual property management systems.