Micky Photo Shield Creator Policy and AI Consent Framework

Micky Photo Shield Creator Policy and AI Consent Framework

Framework Version: 1.0

Project: Micky Photo Shield

Protection Marker: Micky Guardian V1

Official Reference Document

This page is the official reference document for the Micky Photo Shield protection framework.

If an image contains:

• Micky Guardian V1
• MICKY_AI_CONSENT=DENIED
• a Micky Photo Shield QR Digital Consent Chip
• Micky Photo Shield metadata
• a reference to this document

then this page defines the meaning of those protection markers.

This document serves as the canonical reference for the Micky Photo Shield research project.

Purpose

Micky Photo Shield is an independent research project investigating practical methods for expressing creator intent using multiple independent protection technologies.

The project combines:

• Visible protection markers
• Embedded metadata
• Machine-readable Digital Consent Chips
• Image verification
• Digital provenance
• Future C2PA support

The objective is to make creator intent easier to discover, preserve and verify throughout the lifetime of a digital image.

Creator Intent

Unless otherwise stated by the creator, images protected using the Micky Photo Shield framework communicate the following intent.

Meaning:

The creator has not granted permission for AI image editing.

This identifier is a research proposal created by the Micky Photo Shield project.

It represents creator intent.

It is not currently an industry standard and does not itself prevent software from editing an image.

Micky Guardian V1

Images displaying the Micky Guardian V1 protection marker may contain one or more independent protection layers.

Current protection layers include:

• Visible protection marker
• Embedded metadata
• QR Digital Consent Chip
• Creator information
• Digital signature
• Protection identifiers

Future versions may also include:

• C2PA Content Credentials
• Cryptographic verification
• Image fingerprinting
• Provenance verification

Metadata Fields

Protected images may contain the following metadata.

Creator

Identifies the creator of the protected image.

Software

Records the software used to generate the protected image.

MICKY_SHIELD

Indicates whether the image has been processed by the Micky Photo Shield framework.

Expected value:

AI_CONSENT

Indicates the creator's consent status.

Expected value:

AI_EDITING

Indicates the creator's intended AI editing policy.

Expected value:

This field records creator intent.

It does not imply that every AI system currently recognises or enforces this policy.

IMAGE_STATUS

Expected value:

SIGNATURE

Current prototype signature:

Future versions may support cryptographic signatures.

IMAGE_ID

Each protected image may receive a unique identifier.

Example:

Image IDs allow future verification services to uniquely identify protected images.

QR Digital Consent Chip

Some protected images contain a machine-readable QR code.

The QR code is referred to as the Digital Consent Chip.

It may contain information such as:

The QR code provides another independent protection layer capable of communicating creator intent.

Verification

The Micky Photo Shield verification software is designed to verify:

• Metadata exists.
• Required metadata fields are present.
• Metadata values match expected values.
• Metadata has not been removed.
• QR information is present.
• Image protection information remains intact.

Future versions may also verify:

• Digital signatures
• Image fingerprints
• C2PA credentials

Future Development

Current research includes:

• Digital image provenance
• Creator consent communication
• Metadata preservation
• QR-based creator intent
• Image verification
• Image fingerprinting
• C2PA integration
• Cryptographic authenticity
• AI-readable protection markers

Legal Notice

Micky Photo Shield is an active research project.

The protection markers described within this document communicate the creator's intended permissions regarding AI image editing.

This document should not be interpreted as a substitute for copyright law, licensing agreements or other applicable legal protections.

Whether an AI system recognises or enforces these markers depends on the capabilities and policies of that system.

Research Philosophy

Micky Photo Shield is based on one core engineering principle.

Creator intent should remain visible, machine-readable and independently verifiable wherever reasonably possible.

Rather than relying on a single protection mechanism, the framework combines multiple independent layers designed to reinforce one another.

Framework Status

Contact

Questions regarding the Micky Photo Shield research project may be directed to the project creator.

This document may be updated as the framework evolves.