AURA — Open Standard for Verifiable Proof of Origin (European-compatible)

Open standard for verifiable proof of origin for human, hybrid and AI-generated works
Public Draft v0.1 — Specification coming soon

What is AURA?

AURA is an open, neutral and interoperable origin standard that defines how to declare and verify the origin of digital assets audio, video, image, text, datasets and AI-generated outputs in a cryptographically verifiable and institution compatible way.

AURA provides a sovereign origin layer that enables:

certified origin at the moment of creation
independent verification by platforms, regulators, collecting societies and institutions
machine-readable transparency signals for AI training and TDM obligations
interoperability with existing identifiers and metadata frameworks
compatibility with human-created, AI-generated and hybrid works

AURA certifies origin, not identity.

Scope & Principles

Origin proof at creation: origin is declared and anchored when the work is produced
Cryptographic guarantees: verifiable integrity (hash) and tamper-resistant timestamps
Open architecture: separation between the AURA standard and independent implementations
File-referenced signatures: optional support for file-native multimodal signatures generated by compliant implementations
Alignment with European frameworks: copyright, AI regulation, TDM opt-out, cultural sovereignty

AURA is non intrusive and does not modify the digital asset.

What AURA Does (and Does Not Do)

AURA Does

Define a structured, machine-readable AURA Manifest for origin, rights and integrity
Enable independent verification of origin and timestamps
Expose transparency signals for AI training and TDM rights
Allow optional references to file-native multimodal signatures

AURA Does Not

perform content recognition or fingerprinting
maintain any fingerprinting database
embed code, watermarking or DRM inside files
analyse the content of the work
make decisions about licensing or remuneration

AURA is a technical and legal interoperability layer not a rights-management system.

AURA Manifest (Minimal Draft Fields)

origin
issuer
issuer_id (registered in a trusted public key registry)
issued_at
hash
rights.tdm_opt_out
references (ISRC, ISWC, other identifiers)
native_signature_id (optional)

The manifest does not require access to the content itself.

Governance

AURA is published as an open Public Draft. The objective is to converge towards formal standardization with an independent standards body (European or international).

Key principles:

No single company owns or controls AURA
Implementations remain independent as long as they comply with the specification
Discussions occur in writing and transparently

AURA is designed for long term institutional governance.

Why Europe Needs AURA

The European Union has a strategic mandate to protect:

cultural diversity
copyright and authorship
transparency of rights management
lawful use of works in the AI era

With generative AI, large-scale datasets and automated transformations, origin has become a foundational issue.

AURA provides:

verifiable proof of origin for human, hybrid and AI-generated works
machine readable transparency for AI training and dataset use
cross border interoperability between platforms, CMOs and institutions
auditability and legal traceability compatible with EU law

AURA does not replace existing regulations; it provides the technical layer that enables their implementation.

Interoperability

AURA complements does not replace:

ISRC / ISWC
DDEX metadata frameworks
C2PA (content authenticity)
National copyright registries

AURA focuses exclusively on origin and legal provenance, not tamper evidence or content authenticity.

License

AURA is released under the Apache License 2.0, a permissive open standard license suitable for institutional, industrial and public sector adoption.

Intellectual Property Position

This Public Draft reflects an independently conceived and publicly documented standard. It was developed prior to, and separately from, any external confidential collaboration.

The AURA Draft contains no confidential or proprietary information from any partner, institution or private entity. All concepts and structures described herein are published openly for public review as part of an open standardization process.

The AURA specification is released under the Apache License 2.0. No additional rights or claims are granted or implied beyond those explicitly set forth by this license.

Get Involved

The development of AURA is iterative and open. Feedback is welcome from:

creators
collecting societies
digital platforms
AI labs
public institutions
researchers and standardization bodies

Participate:

Open issues and proposals on the GitHub repository
Contribute to the manifest and interoperability profiles