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

Image Recognition, Bulk Uploads, Magazine Launch

Here's a treat for readers of our blog ... a sneak peak at the week to come. I leave soon for Dresden, Germany, where I am a speaker at two seminars at the annual CEPIC Congress & Conference:

- "Know Your Rights - How To Cope With Image Rights" - The MILE Project focuses on two key metadata issues (image piracy and the practical application of copyright metadata), trying to improve the security of digital images online by showcasing and discussing potential solutions to image piracy with technological developments such as digital watermarking and image tracking.

- "Orphan Works in Practice - Registries, databases, collecting societies: What to do to protect your work?" This seminar focuses on rightsholder solutions to global orphan works legislative initiatives.

Two of our big announcements this year will be the addition of image recognition and bulk uploads.

Currently, a user can find and contact the rightsholder from any copy of their work at any website in any language if the image is registered in the C-Registry database. By adding image recognition, our process will now suggest ownership of images that are nearly identical if no exact match can be found. (It's actually "pattern recognition" for things like music, but everyone calls it image recognition).

And, we've added a simple bulk upload process. So, rightsholders that have large quantities of images accessible online, like stock photo agencies, can now export their database as URLs to the images with an ultra-simple upload process (comma-separated data). There is a file size limit of about a million records per text upload. Manual uploads via the web interface are immediate. URLs are processed via automation within days, sometimes hours. (No 18-month waits here for results).

What does this mean? The combination of bulk uploads and "similars search" means it will be virtually impossible to not find the owner or agent of any stock photo online anywhere in the world. A "reasonable search" will turn up a rightsholder or authorized agent from any uncredited or unauthorized stock photo on the web for everyone who adds their URLs to The Copyright Registry. Virtually every image in the stock photo industry can be covered with minimal effort. If an exact match of the file isn't found, C-Registry's unique process will suggest the owner of the closest variation, which is most likely the same image sequence or cropped variation found at a subagent.

This functionality is part of the authentication upgrade, which costs $25 per year for unlimited uploads.

But wait, that's not all. We're also launching a magazine! Creators Circle Magazine is dedicated to copyright, online infringement and orphan works issues. Despite the fact that over 1,000 magazines have ceased publication in the U.S. in the last two years, we felt a compelling need for an organized source of credible information on these critical topics. Issue One covers a range of great stories and new information for the industry. It's available as a glossy, 32 page print version for about $6.40 plus shipping (USA/Canada/Great Britain), and as a free 72 dpi PDF. Watch for it and future issues at CreatorsCircle.com.

While a lot of work remains for the creative community in its ongoing efforts to educate and affect the industry about the solutions that are becoming available, the pendulum is beginning to swing back in favor of creators and rightsholders, especially photographers.

Copyright Debate at The Economist

There is an interesting public debate on the value of copyright at Economist.com. The first of multiple days starts at
http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/310
go to Copyright and Wrongs Debate

I contributed the following to the discussion, leading with an little-spoken benefit of copyright that is intended to resonate with the readership of The Economist, as follows:

1) Copyright democratizes access to creative works (ironically). If all content were free, who would pay to enable access? In yesteryear, only the rich could travel to Paris to see the Mona Lisa. In today's digital age, copyright enables access by the multitudes by enabling the cost of access to be divided to the fullest extent amongst the broadest potential audience, which minimizes the price per view. With copyright, each rightsholder can decide whether to minimize price by dividing the cost of access by many viewers (as a library or museum does) or to profit adequately to enable creating new works (as a photographer, artist or movie studio does). Whether printing a newspaper or providing digitization and bandwidth for a website, access has a cost that must be paid by someone. Monetizing copyright actually broadens access. (I note that the role of search engines is primarily to organize that which is already accessible.)

2) Laws tend to protect the weaker party. Rightly so. "Copyright upon creation" is necessary to protect the creative works of the many and of the one. How else would society protect the drawings of a child, personal photos posted to a blog, or the music of a garage band? Absent the protection of copyright, the intellectual, cultural and financial wealth of generations - individually and collectively - could be forfeit in the interest of expediency.

And, 3) Contrary to Professor Fisher's original assumptions, the technology and business model already exist today for a comprehensive national and global registry that could ascertain the owners of copyrighted works at any website in any language. The awareness of and the education and will to use this system have not yet caught up to the technological capability.

Video Tutorials Begin at C-Registry

We've begun adding video tutorials. The first two in the series explain why it's important for photographers and stock photo agencies to limit the impact of uncredited and unauthorized web use of images, which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "orphaned works", and how C-Registry globally addresses this problem.

Help for Photographers on Orphan Works Problem

Help for Stock Photo Agencies on Orphan Works

Photographer "How To" video:



Also, watch for question mark icons at C-Registry. Each will link to a short video help segment for that web page or function.

Open Letter to the Photography Community about C-Registry

A small handful of individuals have been spreading misinformation about C-Registry since March. In many cases, this misinformation has been outrageously false. We have decided to distribute an open letter to the photo community to put these ridiculous allegations to rest. In this way, we can return to focusing on our core mission of helping photographers and other creators to be found and contacted from uncredited copies of their creative works online. (Read our Open Letter to the Photo Community in comments)

What rights do photographers grant C-Registry?

A photographer recently emailed to ask for an explanation of rights being granted by letting C-Registry link to her images online. In essence, she asks: Why are the terms so “awful” for photographers? (The short answer is that the terms are actually very good because photographers are granting ACCESS, NOT USE of their images … see full reply in comments.)

C-Registry Answers APA

APA distributed questions by email to the photo community on March 23rd concerning C-Registry.us. Here are responses to the questions of APA National - Advertising Photographers of America. (see reply to APA in comments)

Will images accessed by C-Registry.us be searchable in StockPhotoFinder.com?

That same trade association email blast stated “[trade association name] is concerned that this is an attempt to seed StockPhotoFinder.com with images for its stock business.” (As a result, the rumor is now circulating that photographers will be unknowingly “seeding” the stock photo search engine with their images from The Copyright Registry.) In response to this trade association statement, we pose to ourselves the question: Will images accessed by C-Registry.us be searchable in StockPhotoFinder.com? (see reply in comments)

Why does C-Registry use the “.us” domain?

That widely distributed email blast from a photo trade association made the statement “www.C-Registry.us appears to [trade association name] that it is implying that it is an official, government agency registry with an .us extension on the URL. Such action is misleading and deceptive.” In response, we pose to ourselves the question why does C-Registry use the “.us” domain? (see reply in comments)

How does the technology spider and track infringing images on the web?

Hi Randy,

Thanks for taking the time to create and open this blog. Can you give us some idea of the technology that your web spider uses to track infringing images on the web?

Thanks

Stan Rowin

(This question is from a comment to the Welcome message at 9:38 AM, March 27, 2009, by Stan Rowin ... see reply in comments in this thread)

Is a registry needed when there is no Orphan Works Act?

A recent email blast from a photo trade association questioned the underlying value of the need for a registry service. Is a registry actually needed at this time when the Orphan Works Act has not even passed yet? (see reply in comments)

Where will the revenue come from?

This is a bold undertaking to be sure. And not an inexpensive one I wouldn't think. How will you fund this company if the service is free? (This question is from a comment to the Welcome message at 7:25 PM, March 26, 2009, by DAN POYOUROW PHOTOGRAPHER ... see reply in comments in this thread)

Welcome to C-Registry Copyright Forum

Copyright could be the world's most under valued asset, one that spans all cultures and ages, from a child's drawing to professional creations. It's time for creators to reclaim that value, for online creative works to recognize their creators, and for all participants to benefit from this creativity. Our mission helps address these needs.

This is the official blog/forum of The Copyright Registry(tm) database at C-Registry.us. Postings are monitored. No anonymous posts are allowed. We invite responsible citizens to discuss the application of The Copyright Registry to issues surrounding the online use of intellectual property.