Google News respects copyright and is not looking to move into content creation, Josh Cohen, content specialist for the search giant’s news channel, has said in a Q&A with the Toronto Star.
“…[I]t’s really about helping people to find the content that’s out there. We just don’t see ourselves as content creators. We’re more of a platform for that content,” he said.
File-sharing tracking specialist Bay TSP is to begin trials of video and audio fingerprinting technology aimed at monitoring copyright infringements on user-generated content sites.
The trials, which will use search technology provided by Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (NTT), will allow content owners ‘to monitor and manage how their intellectual property is used online’ focusing on sites like YouTube, Daily Motion, Google Video and Yahoo Video, a press release from the company said.
Central to the tracking of this content is Bay TSP’s ‘fingerprint library’, which uses a series of filters to judge whether ugc on websites includes copyrighted material.
After the testing period is complete, the companies hope to launch a commercial service that will enable content owners to generate audio and video fingerprints for their own material.
“The benefit of our Content Authentication Platform [CAP] is that it works with or without the cooperation of the UGC sites. Preliminary tests have shown that we can provide timely feedback that would allow UGC site operators to remove unauthorized content before large numbers of people can see it,” said Mark Ishikawa, CEO of BayTSP, in the release.
“For UGC sites that want to implement content filtering and negotiate revenue sharing arrangements with content owners, CAP provides independent verification of how the content is displayed, how many people view it, and can calculate revenue sharing using business rules set by the content owner and UGC site operator that can be tailored to each offering.”
EPUK, the website for editorial photographers, has launched a new website to focus on copyright issues.
Copyright Action is a community website for photographers with resources aimed at helping them with their intellectual property queries.
To go with the series of features on online copyright on Journalism.co.uk, thought I’d share this ‘rant’ with you on the subject.
Writer Harlan Ellison sums up the issue of publishers using content without permission and/or thinking it should be free.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE](The clip, posted to YouTube, is part of the trailer for film Dreams With Sharp Teeth)
I suspect what he says about Time Warner would be echoed by freelancers and agencies dealing with online publishers: “They want everything for nothing. They wouldn’t go for five seconds without being paid and they’ll bitch about how much they are being paid and want more.”
According to site OhGizmo, camera manufacturer Canon has filed a patent for a camera that will take a photo of a photographer’s iris as they take a picture.
This iris image will then act as a watermark and could help snappers identify unlicensed use of their images – particularly online.
On the copyright theme, Kevin Smith, co-founder of picture agency Splash News, discussed with Journalism.co.uk the merits of Scan X – the technology employed by the agency to track their content online and protect revenue.
Smith admitted that the procedure was expensive for Splash – as such putting it out of reach for independent and freelance photographers. However, patents such as Canon’s could see this technology dripping through to a more affordable level.
A victory in a European court last year against Google has encouraged newspapers in Belgium to take action against the European Commission over links on two agency sites.
According to the Times, a Brussels court has been asked by a group of French- and German-language newspapers to examine its claim.