Visual Watermarking in the Era of Diffusion Models: Advances and Challenges
On the map: Diffusion models → Robustness, privacy and adversarial aspects
also in 1 more
Abstract (arXiv)
As generative artificial intelligence technologies like Stable Diffusion advance, visual content becomes more vulnerable to misuse, raising concerns about copyright infringement. Visual watermarks serve as effective protection mechanisms, asserting ownership and deterring unauthorized use. Traditional deepfake detection methods often rely on passive techniques that struggle with sophisticated manipulations. In contrast, diffusion models enhance detection accuracy by allowing for the effective learning of features, enabling the embedding of imperceptible and robust watermarks. We analyze the strengths and challenges of watermark techniques related to diffusion models, focusing on their robustness and application in watermark generation. By exploring the integration of advanced diffusion models and watermarking security, we aim to advance the discourse on preserving watermark robustness against evolving forgery threats. It emphasizes the critical importance of developing innovative solutions to protect digital content and ensure the preservation of ownership rights in the era of generative AI.
Key facts. Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Robustness, privacy and adversarial aspects, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 34 of its 46 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 13 May 2025.
Builds on
34 of 46 references.
Closest ancestors · 19
Same direction, newest first
- 2024Watermarking Visual Concepts for Diffusion Models18 Nov
- 2024ROBIN: Robust and Invisible Watermarks for Diffusion Models with Adversarial Optimization6 Nov
- 2024Watermark-embedded Adversarial Examples for Copyright Protection against Diffusion Models15 Apr
- 2023SimAC: A Simple Anti-Customization Method for Protecting Face Privacy against Text-to-Image Synthesis of Diffusion Models13 Dec
- 2023Can Protective Perturbation Safeguard Personal Data from Being Exploited by Stable Diffusion?30 Nov
- 2023MetaCloak: Preventing Unauthorized Subject-driven Text-to-image Diffusion-based Synthesis via Meta-learning22 Nov
- 2023Toward effective protection against diffusion based mimicry through score distillation2 Oct
- 2023DUAW: Data-free Universal Adversarial Watermark against Stable Diffusion Customization19 Aug
- 2023Intellectual Property Protection of Diffusion Models via the Watermark Diffusion Process6 Jun
- 2023Unlearnable Examples for Diffusion Models: Protect Data from Unauthorized Exploitation2 Jun
- 2023Tree-Ring Watermarks: Fingerprints for Diffusion Images that are Invisible and Robust31 May
- 2023Mist: Towards Improved Adversarial Examples for Diffusion Models22 May
7 more
- 2023Watermarking Diffusion Model21 May
- 2023The Stable Signature: Rooting Watermarks in Latent Diffusion Models27 Mar
- 2023Anti-DreamBooth: Protecting users from personalized text-to-image synthesis27 Mar
- 2023A Recipe for Watermarking Diffusion Models17 Mar
- 2023Raising the Cost of Malicious AI-Powered Image Editing13 Feb
- 2023Adversarial Example Does Good: Preventing Painting Imitation from Diffusion Models via Adversarial Examples9 Feb
- 2022Diffusion Models for Adversarial Purification16 May
Other references · 15
- 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 21,076
- 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,863
- 2015Deep Unsupervised Learning using Nonequilibrium Thermodynamicscited by 7,058
- 2017Towards Deep Learning Models Resistant to Adversarial Attackscited by 6,415
- 2022DreamBooth: Fine Tuning Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Subject-Driven Generationcited by 3,300
- 2017Targeted Backdoor Attacks on Deep Learning Systems Using Data Poisoningcited by 1,055
- 2018HiDDeN: Hiding Data With Deep Networkscited by 397
- 2023Glaze: Protecting Artists from Style Mimicry by Text-to-Image Modelscited by 205
- 2019Robust Invisible Video Watermarking with Attentioncited by 149
- 2024WAVES: Benchmarking the Robustness of Image Watermarkscited by 97
- 2024RingID: Rethinking Tree-Ring Watermarking for Enhanced Multi-Key Identificationcited by 91
- 2021CMUA-Watermark: A Cross-Model Universal Adversarial Watermark for Combating Deepfakescited by 56
3 more
- 2023Diffusion Models for Non-autoregressive Text Generation: A Surveycited by 44
- 2020Deceiving Image-to-Image Translation Networks for Autonomous Driving with Adversarial Perturbationscited by 9
- 2024Inevitable Trade-off between Watermark Strength and Speculative Sampling Efficiency for Language Modelscited by 8
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2025: 2; 2026: 2.
4 papers.
- 2025First-Place Solution to NeurIPS 2024 Invisible Watermark Removal Challengecited by 9
- 2025SemVink: Advancing VLMs' Semantic Understanding of Optical Illusions via Visual Global Thinkingcited by 6
- 2026UniMark: Unified Adaptive Multi-bit Watermarking for Autoregressive Image Generatorscited by 0
- 2026Membership is Ownership: A Robust Ownership Verification Framework for Diffusion Modelscited by 0
- 2026Membership is Ownership: A Robust Ownership Verification Framework for Diffusion Models28 Aug 2026
- 2026UniMark: Unified Adaptive Multi-bit Watermarking for Autoregressive Image Generators12 Apr 2026
- 2025First-Place Solution to NeurIPS 2024 Invisible Watermark Removal Challenge28 Aug 2025
- 2025SemVink: Advancing VLMs' Semantic Understanding of Optical Illusions via Visual Global Thinking3 Jun 2025
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
- 2025Diffusion-Based Image Editing: An Unforeseen Adversary to Robust Invisible Watermarks
- 2026Vanishing Watermarks: Diffusion-Based Image Editing Undermines Robust Invisible Watermarking
- 2024DiffuseTrace: A Transparent and Flexible Watermarking Scheme for Latent Diffusion Model
- 2025DiffMark: Diffusion-based Robust Watermark Against Deepfakes
- 2025Image Watermarking of Generative Diffusion Models
- 2023Robustness of AI-Image Detectors: Fundamental Limits and Practical Attacks
- 2024Exploiting Watermark-Based Defense Mechanisms in Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Unauthorized Data Usage
- 2025On the Information-Theoretic Fragility of Robust Watermarking under Diffusion Editing