Image Recognition & Bulk URL Uploads At The Copyright Registry

It's official. We've added image recognition and bulk URL uploads. This means when users are seeking the owner of an image, C-Registry will now suggest the most likely owner if an exact match can't be found. This is significant because rights holders don't need to upload every frame and variation in a sequence to gain protection, and because it makes it very difficult NOT to find the likely owner when doing a reasonable search.

And, members who have been authenticated (which has a $25/year fee except for ASMP photographers) can now export URLs from your database with related ownership information and add that data directly to C-Registry via a simple web interface. (No images, only URLs to images). Super simple.

So, we've made it extremely effective for users to find image owners that are in C-Registry.us with a transparent similars search, and also made it really easy for rights holders to protect large quantities of their images online. This is a big step forward in protecting creative works online. Here are some links to check out ...

The press release:
In War On Web Piracy, Creators Say “Play Nice or Pay The Price”

The electronic press kit:
Press Releases, Screen Grabs & Photos at the Copyright Registry

A "how to" video on bulk uploading:
How To Bulk Upload Image URLs To The Copyright Registry

And, here's a great illustration of how we're using pattern recognition to help users find image owners. In this example, image recognition found lots of similar images. But only one had any ownership identification associated with it. So, C-Registry recognized the similarity in the images and suggested the ownership to the researcher or user.

Example of how image recognition suggests image owners

The pendulum is definitely swinging back in favor or rights holders. A click of a browser bookmark now brings users to image owners. Stolen photos with no ID's can now link back to their owner. :-)

Copyright & Orphan Works Focus at CEPIC & MILE Conferences

CEPIC and MILE are over for 2009. There was a lot of interest in orphan works and copyright, far more than ever before. It is the "year of copyright" in many ways, especially if judged by recent major media news clips on the topic and quotes from U.S. legislators at the Copyright Summit in DC. Here is a link to seminar info on the topic, including my PowerPoint presentations.

CEPIC CONFERENCE & MILE SEMINARS ON COPYRIGHT AND ORPHAN WORKS

And for those who haven't been to CEPIC, here are some snaps to give a feeling for what it's like. CEPIC is the Cannes Film Festival of the Stock Photo Industry for Europe, a place where photo agencies make deals for distribution amidst seminars and industry-level discussions.

Randy Taylor speaking on copyright, orphan works and related solutions at CEPIC and MILE conferences. Photos by Brian Kavanagh of Bridgeman Art Library.

CEPIC Conference tables area where stock photo agencies arrange for distribution deals and business relationships. Close-up of Dagmar Fabricius and Randy Taylor of StockPhotoFinder/C-Registry. Photos by Stefanie Lüken of Jahreszeiten Verlag GmbH.

Many more photos from CEPIC Conference