Proposal: Character and Subject Metadata

Status

Deferred from OAA 1.0

Summary

OAA 1.0 does not define dedicated base fields for characters or other depicted subjects.

Motivation

The current base format can capture descriptive character or subject information in an artwork’s title, public description, or private personal_notes. Existing structured source data belongs in namespaced extension blocks; flattening it into those text fields is not equivalent preservation.

A portable subject model would require community consensus on whether it covers characters only or also people, locations, objects, franchises, and other subjects; whether multiple values are allowed; and whether values are display text or stable external identities.

Specification Changes

None for OAA 1.0. The existing title, public_metadata.description, and private_metadata.personal_notes fields remain unchanged.

Compatibility Impact

None. A later OAA 1.x revision may add optional character or subject fields if demonstrated need, community consensus, and the base-field design principles justify them.

Examples

Character information may be captured without a dedicated base field:

{
  "title": "Example Hero Commission",
  "public_metadata": {
    "description": "A commission depicting the Example Hero."
  }
}

Open Questions

No open question blocks OAA 1.0. Reconsider when concrete unmet subject-metadata needs and community consensus justify a shared model.