Entering the New Millennium: Copyright Management, DigitalWatermarking, Quality Scanning: Some Considerations

by: Dr. Andrea de PoloAlinari Photo Archive

“The World oldest Picture Library with over 3.5 million images from around the world”http://www.alinari.com

Introduction:Today the world is fulfilled by images. Thanks to the technological innovations in thecommunication sector, television, broadcast programs, satellite connections, pay-per-viewtechnologies, and fibre optic communications are getting less expensive and widely adopted.In addition to that, with the spread of Internet, data and content in general such as clip art, movies,still pictures, soundtracks, ecc. have become much more accessible.As everybody know, in the world there are profit-commercial enterprises, and non-profit /educational institutions. Especially on the Internet, many users have focused their work to createand use the content provided on-line by those enterprises / educational institutions.For commercial companies, lawyers, end users and Internet providers, has therefore become quitedifficult to define, manage and verify the intellectual property rights of what they can find on-line.Moreover, since the internet is covering the entire world, very often the regulations and rules ofsome countries might be in conflict with others: therefore it is getting very complicated to manageand clear copyright over the net, because through several web mirrors servers , remailer,anonymizers, and strong encryption keys, it is getting very difficult to identify the end user ortrack-down his/her routingToday I will try to describe what are the main issues of commercial companies like Alinari PhotoArchive.

Company background:In 1852 Leopoldo Alinari, with his brothers Giuseppe and Romualdo, established the photographicworkshop in Florence, which is at the heart of the firm still bearing his name: it was the beginningof a unique experience which, focusing on the themes of the photographic portrait and of the viewsof works of art and historical monuments, immediately met with outstanding national andinternational success.Fratelli Alinari is the world oldest firm operating in the field of photography, that is in thefundamental sector of images and communication.Alinari is composed by several departments and activities:• Museum of Photography Fratelli Alinari• Picture Library• Art Printwork• Publishing house• Restoration/Conservation laboratory• Exhibition space

• Digital and Multimedia dept.• Library of history of photography• Showroom/Bookshop

The Archive preserves over 2.5 million vintage images from all over the world. The history ofAlinari coincides with the very history of photography: the activity of the dynasty of Alinariphotographers is at the heart of the huge heritage housed in the present Alinari Archives. It is aheritage which is becoming larger and larger and which, thanks to a sensible policy of newacquisitions and new photographic campaigns, ranges from daguerreotypes to modern colourphotographs. Alinari is today the leader in traditional and multimedia photographic publishing andis a synonym for the highest quality in the production of artistic prints.Alinari represents an irreplaceable landmark for preserving, cataloguing, making known andhanding down, through photography, Italian and European history, society, art and culture.An integral part of the Alinari Museum is the Library of History of Photography, from the originsto the present day. Open to the general public and to scholars, it houses all the Alinari publications,the major historical and artistic reviews on photography published in Italy, all those very famousand much sought-after treatises and handbooks which, for years, have taught photographers "theirart".Alinari is currently in the process to provide the historical archive, on-line, through the “Alinari2000 - Save our Memory” project. The aims of the project is to catalogue, restore, digitise andretrieve on-line, in Internet, through a powerful but easy to use English-Italian database, a verylarge and selected portion of the Alinari photographic collection. A first corpus of 35.000 imageswill be on-line by the end of this year.In addition to the Alinari 2000 project, it is important to mention the Alinari participation in severalIT - Information Technologies European based projects such as IMPRIMATUR, AQUARELLE,VICTOR. Alinari is playing a vital role on those prestigious projects by providing and acquiring atthe same time valuable know-how on e-commerce and Intellectual Property Right topics.In order to create the proper awareness about photographic conservation and restoration, it is alsoimportant to mention the workshops that Alinari is organising on a regular basis at Alinaripromises.Alinari is represented in the US and Canada by Art Resource located in NYC and by SuperStocklocated in Jacksonville, Florida.

Alinari Archive is a perfect example to describe the problems and issues that affects severalorganisations worldwide.Alinari has preserved up today the atmosphere, the soul, the spirit of the 1800’s and today it has tomake major technological changes in order to fit into this competitive business.The topics that I will describe today are focused on:• Copyright Management• Digital Watermarking• Image Quality• Digital on-line Archiving

Copyright Management:In order to protect the copyright holder rights, today there are many organisations that are workingbetween the end user and the content provider in order to clear the rights from copyrighted materialrequested by the end user.Management is taking care by non-profit organisations like SACD in France, or VCI in the UK, orSIAE in Italy.

The Visual Creators' IndexThe Visual Creators' Index Ltd, or VCI, is an independent and not-for-profitIndex of 'visual creators' run on behalf of, and for the benefit of, all creators ofvisual images. The VCI management committee is composed of representativesfrom primary UK organisations of visual creators.The main function of the VCI is to promote and protect the rights of the creatorsof visual images in a digital environment. In immediate practical terms, the VCIwill investigate and recommend methods of marking digital images, and will setup a Register to provide and assign a standard Creator Code, uniquelyidentifying an image creator, for use with these systems.Although the primary purpose of this Creator Code will be for use with currentlyavailable software, which are able to insert the Code into digital images at asub-visual level, it will also benefit those image-makers who do not currently usedigital capture, transmission or archiving, as registration on the Index is alsoopen to them, and their Creator Code can be used to identify artwork, prints,transparencies and even computer and photographic equipment.Any Code can be instantly linked back to the individual creator through aconstantly updated index, the VCI Register, which will be available directly viathe World-Wide Web, or by phone or fax through the member organisations ofthe management committee.As well as helping to protect copyright by allowing the identification of thecreator of an image in the digital domain, the VCI scheme will also overcome theproblem of maintaining contact with image-makers as they move base duringtheir working lives.The VCI has thus begun the process of setting a universal standard format forcreator IDs, which image makers throughout the world, as well as manufacturersof computer hardware and software, especially other fingerprinting andwatermarking software, can now begin to support.

SACDThe organisation works through an Independent Registration Authority that manages:1. the reception of deposits2. the confidentiality of deposits3. the physical security of the deposits4. the RA attributes to each file, a unique number

example: 11 FR 1777 42364 where:• 11 indicate the type of work• FR Registration country• 1777 number of the RA, for SACD for example is 1777• 42364 registration identifier, it is a sequential number delivered directly by the RA

There are national organisms of standardisation, like ANSI for the USA, which agree to theRegistration Authorities in their respective countries, verified by an international registrationauthority: JURA, which depends of the ISO organisation.

ALCSALCS was founded in 1977 to enable writers to receive fees that are uniquely or more effectivelyhandled collectively. Today it represents more than 35,000 members and associates, and collectsand distributes fees to many more individual writers in Britain.ALCS has two main aims:

• To campaign where appropriate for the establishment of collective rights schemes by statuteand voluntary agreement.

• To ensure that writers receive a just share from all such collective rights schemes.

ALCS maintains a watching brief on all matters affecting copyright, both in Great Britain andabroad, making representations to UK government authorities and the European Union. It isincreasingly active in the field of electronic rights, wherein its future lies, and ALCS Publicationson the subject are available.March Distribution Breaks RecordsThis month ALCS will distribute £4.6 million to rightsholders, almost double the amountdistributed during the same period in 1998. Nearly 21,000 authors will benefit from the moneyscollected by ALCS since the Society's last distribution in November. This means that ALCS willhave distributed a total of £9.5 million during the financial year April 1998 - March 1999, ourlargest distribution ever!

amount distributed recipients of payments

DOIThe Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is an identification system for intellectual property in the digitalenvironment.Developed by the International DOI Foundation on behalf of the publishing industry, its goals areto provide a framework for managing intellectual content, link customers with publishers, facilitateelectronic commerce, and enable automated copyright management. At DOI.ORG you can findinformation about the underlying DOI technology, discover the advantages of becoming a memberof the DOI Foundation, contribute to discussions on policy and implementation issues, and muchmore.

Copyright - Collecting Societies (some examples):ALCSAIDAA-Association Internationale d'Auteurs de l'AudiovisuelAmerican Intellectual Property Law AssociationIFRROCISACConfédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et CompositeursIntellectual Property WorldwideThe Society of AuthorsThe Writers' Guild of Great BritainVerwertungsgesellschaft WORT (Germany)SABAM

SACDSCAMSIAE (Italy)Writers Guild of Japan (Japan)AKKA/LAASUISSIMAGE

Digital watermarking:Digital watermarking is the way to go for content provider and picture archives like Corbis,Hulton-Getty, Tony Stone, PNI, PhotoDisc, and for the music industry and for the movieindustry.There are different systems and solutions on the market today to protect the data from an illegalusage/piracy. It is NOT the aims of this paper to promote or to recommend any product; my goal isonly to transmit to the audience the awareness about how, when and what to do in order to protectthe owner rights.

Currently, by using a watermarking software, it is possible to embed into the file (audio, video orstill picture) some information, like the copyright unique registration number and the file indexnumber. The problems that are not solved yet are basically two: there is not available in the marketa universal watermark standard and each solution has some leaks, such as image degradationquality after watermarking, or weak to resist if the watermarked image is manipulated, by usingsome filter and painting like effects.Below is my “wishing list”, a list of the topics that should be addressed, improved and solved bythe watermarking industry.

Wishing list:

1. Low Cost Digital Detection2. Reliable Detection3. Survivability4. Licensable Under Reasonable Terms5. To resist to any degree of image rotation6. To resist to the attack of the StirMark watermarking remove software7. To resist to the maximum level of jpeg compression8. To resist from very large image cropping/resize to very large image enlargements9. To provide to the image, after been watermarked a certain level of image quality.10. To resist from certain image distortions/manipulations that the user can apply with some

Photoshop filters.....11. To be detected/retrieved from a hard copy detection

Copyright and Intellectual Property definition:The law of copyright is essential to protect copyright owners from unauthorised copying or otheruse of their works.It gives to copyright owners the exclusive right to authorise exploitation of literary, dramatic,musical or artistic works as well as sound recordings, films, television and sound broadcasts,cable programmes and published editions. Works attract copyright protection when they appear inmaterial form - they do not have to be printed or published.In general, patents protect inventions of tangible things; copyrights protect various forms of writtenand artistic expression; and trademarks protect a name or symbol that identifies the source of goodsor services.

Definition of Patent:A patent is a document, issued by the federal government, thatgrants to its owner a legally enforceable right to excludeothers from practising the invention described and claimed inthe document.

When photographers make agreements with editors, end users, content providers such as stockagencies, they have to rich an agreement with those third party in order to define the rights androyalties; today, with the spread of Internet, the needs to sign very clear agreements has becomeeven more important than before.The main problems rises when are not included in the agreements all the usage and variables thatcan happen once the image is placed on the web. In the web, in fact it is often difficult to track endusers, to protect your rights or to prove any copyright violation, because often today’s technologycreate for this matter more confusion and problem, especially because there is not out yet aninternational clear law about rights. Therefore, it is often difficult to identify end users, becausethey can surf the net, through an anonymous nickname, or mirror sites can spread the originalcopyright restriction to more countries that were not included originally in the copyright agreementbetween the artist/photographer and the internet main content provider (on-line picture web sitelibrary for example).

Below an example of a copyright licensee agreement that take in account all the problems andissues raised above.

Example of copyright licensee agreement:FINE ART PRINTS:

Most black & white images are strictly limited to print editions of 50. Each print measuresapproximately 16X20 inches with an image size of approximately 10X15 inches. Additionally,each print will be toned for permanence, signed by the photographer, numbered and blindembossed with the photographer's seal.

Colour images are available as fine art Giclee digital prints. The term Giclee is used for an inkjetreproduction of artwork on watercolor paper. The prints are generated on Iris printers usinglong-lasting high-gamut archival inks. This produces vivid colors and unique surface qualitywhich rival or surpass traditional colour printing methods. Most colour images are also limited toprint editions of 50. Each print measures approximately 16X20 inches with an image size ofapproximately 10X15 inches. Additionally, each print will be signed by the photographer,numbered and blind embossed with the photographer's seal.

As colours on individual monitors vary widely the final colours and tone of the prints will mostlikely not match exactly to what you view on the screen. The images are best viewed at1024X768 resolution and with a 24 bit full colour video card at 1.8 screen gamma.

The price of each image in an edition starts at $700 US. As the edition sells the price increase.The availability of any image is subject to the edition being sold out. Prices do not includeshipping and handling charges. Payment must be made in US dollars, payable on a US bank.Institutions will be invoiced net 30 days.

Foreign orders are sent by surface parcel post, insured, unless otherwise specified by priorarrangement. Foreign shipments are subject to the customs regulations of the country to whichthey are sent. It is the responsibility of the buyer to handle any customs questions or to settleany official actions taken as a result of an attempt to deliver the purchase.

California sales tax of 8.25% will be collected where applicable. California residents holding

valid tax exempt numbers should include those numbers on the checks, and will also have tosubmit a signed California tax exempt form.

Any sale of these photographs does not constitute an implied sales of the copyright, or rights toreproduce the photograph in any way.

Guarantee:It is sometimes difficult to judge an images quality and depth from a low resolution file on acomputer screen. So, all images are money back guaranteed, with the following conditions:-The guarantee starts from shipment date and extends for 60 days. The image must be returnedreceived back within 60 days of initial shipment-The buyer is totally responsible for the shipping costs of returning the print-The guarantee is only valid if the print is returned in exactly the same condition as it was whenit was sent. This is up to my discretion.

Please fill out and send the form below should you wish any further details such as:-availability of image-exact price of the print-shipping and handling costs-delivery times(or e-mail: xxx@xxx.com for any specific questions)• Credits: Lorne Resnick

Image Quality:

One of the major problem of today photographic archives is to provide top quality for demandingcommercial users and for fine quality editors, and protect at the same time their rights on the web.In addition to that, there are great expenses to catalogue and digitise large photographic archive atvery good image quality. To understand this matter, I can say for example that:• it will take 3 minutes to preview and scan with a medium quality, a 11x17 inches photographic

print, with no image resize and resolution at 300 dpi, that will create a file of about 10mbTIFF-RGB, using a PowerLook II 36bit, gamma 3.2, flat bed scanner

• it will take about 5 minutes do the same job with a Scitex EverSmart Pro, gamma 3.7• it will take much longer if the work was done from a slide acquired through a drum scanner

(longer because the preparation process for the slide to be placed on the cylinder is verytedious).

Image quality therefore is very important in today’s quality business, where there is obviously aconflict between the needs for high quality images for publisher and quality end users and the fearsabout digital piracy.It is also important to mention the fact that stronger watermarking means usually more image noiseas well, which is something that fine quality editors and photographers do not want to see!High quality images are now become more affordable through the introduction in the market of fastand easy to use flat bed scanners with a dynamic range close to drum scanners; currently excellenthigh end scanners for digital libraries projects are: Scitex EverSmart Supreme, Agfa T5000 andXY-15, Imacon series, ScanView F-10, ecc.

Examples of a digital watermarking process:

DIGIMARC WATERMARK ENCODER DIGIMARC WATERMARK STRENGTH WINDOW

DIGIMARC NOTICE THAT ANOTHER WATERMARK IS EMBEDDED

SIGNUM VERIDATA ENCODER SIGNUM VERIDATA ALTERATION NOTICE

SIGNUM VERIDATA: AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN MODIFIED

SURESIGN EMBEDDED SCREEN SURESIGN COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

GIOVANNI ENCODE SCREEN GIOVANNI DECODE SCREEN

IP2-COPYSIGHT ENCRYPTION IP2-COPYSIGHT WATERMARKING SCREEN

Abstracts of email discussions concerning IPR:Statement: Are URL's subject to copyright? Specifically, may an alphabetical listof URL's incorporated in a web page be subject to copyright? The pagesin question appear to be similar to a telephone book or a city directory.I think not. Is there a case on point?

Question: I agree with the analysis of U.S. law. Anything first published in1922 or before is in the public domain in the U.S.Replay: Almost. As others have pointed out, there is the silly Twin Booksdecision in the 9th circuit. Is a work published overseas in 1922but subsequently published in the U.S. (e.g. Joyce's "Ulysses")p.d. in the 9th circuit?

Question: I'm curious about the term of publicity rights. I had thought rightsof privacy and publicity were personal rights, and as such wouldnormally expire with the person to whom they attach. Obviously, thisis incorrect; what's the black-letter rule on this? Are theyperpetual?Replay: The Elvis Presley Estate practically invented the tort of right ofpublicity - all after Elvis's death. Death is not hindrance tothis tort. I don't know how perpetual they are but the Elvis peopleare still going strong.

Question: Specifically, may an alphabetical list of URL's incorporated in a webpage be subject to copyright?Replay: This is a different question altogether. There could be copyright in acompilation of URLs if the selection and arrangement is original.Dan L. Burk, via email

Question: Some forward-looking museums have claimed that their real assets arethe intellectual properties they have developed to provide context totheir holdings -- not the images of the works themselves.Replay: I'm very interested in this statement. What types of intellectualproperties have museums developed to provide context to their holdings?Are you referring to architecture, displays, lighting, and originalwritings about the history of the displayed piece? Can you refer me toany museums that are actively creating a portfolio of IP developed toprovide context to their holdings? Are you aware of any articles onthis subject?Jerald Gnuschke, via email

Question: Take a scenario where a photographer supplies a B/W print and the retoucher usesBarco, Photoshop and Illustrator to manipulate the appearance in a major way, so what you end upwith is a mix of photography and illustration. Should the person doing the computer workbe entitled to negotiate his commission and fee structure the same way as we photographers do? Inother words, if the client says the job is for a magazine ad in the UK only, then later the usageincreases to world wide publication, is the retoucher able to claimextra usage fees as would the photographer and the model for example?Replay: I've read a little about copyright and from what I understand, if a photographer is hiredby the hour the copyright goes to his employer unless otherwise agreed ahead of time. I think thesame idea would hold true with a photographer that hires someone. On the other hand anything isnegotiable. I think the graphic artist may have to simply get an agreementbefore hand.Rich D., via email

Statement: I recently discovered that large parts of my web site (www.calverley.co.uk)have been downloaded changed slightly and used by another photographer(http://www.imageryphotography.com/).Some parts including my guestbook page have hardly been changed at all !Layout and background colour and even image bar format have been copied, butthe most amazing thing is some of my original text too has been lifted.Has this ever happened to anyone else ? I would be interested to know whatyour thoughts are on this,especially the AOP, and what course of action I should take.My ISP has taken a look at the site in question and found the original htmlcode too from my site so there is no mistake it has been nicked !!Julian Calverley, via email

Digital on-line Archiving

The digital process that Alinari is currently taking in action is also supported by new ways topreserve the high quality images for the commercial market available upon request.By using DVD-R storage solution, Alinari is quickly move its precious digital quality archive into anew high capacity storage solution.In the near future, (Fall 1999) it will be possible to browse the Alinari on-line database, searchsome images for free and than preview the rest of the content, for example, through a subscriptionfee.Please check our site regularly for news and update about our current and future technologicalprojects and services!

Paper Credits

Lorne Resnick1511 Sawtelle Blvd., Suite #297Los Angeles, CA 90025Tel. 310-413-2023Fax. 310-312-0870email: Lorne@lorneresnick.com

The International DOI Foundation1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW7th FloorWashington, DC 20009, USATEL: 202-232-3335 ext. 228FAX: 202-745-0694Email: crisher@publishers.org

ALCSMarlborough Court, 14-18 Holborn,London EC1N 2LE, UKTelephone: +44 (0)171 395 0600Fax: +44 (0)171 395 0660email: webmaster@alcs.co.uk

AoPThe Association of PhotographersTel:+44 - (0)171 - 739 6669Fax:+44 - (0)171 - 739 8707e-mail:aop@dircon.co.ukURL: www.aophoto.co.uk81 Leonard St., London, EC2A 4QS

The Visual Creators’ Index:Phone: +44 (0)171 739 6669Fax: +44 (0)171 739 8707E-mail:mail@vci-uk.comc/o The Association of Photographers81 Leonard StreetLondon EC2A 4QS, England

SACD11bis, rue BalluParis, Francetel +33-1-40.23.44.44http://www.sacd.fr

Links and interesting references:

IPR, TRADEMARKS, PATENT OFFICESAmerican Intellectual Property Law Association: http://www.aipla.org/US Copyright Office: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/American I.P. Law Association: http://www.aipla.org/overview.htmlEuropean Patent Office: http://www.european-patent-office.org/Berkman Center for Internet and Society: http://cyber.harvard.edu/metaschool.htmlAIPPI: to promote and improve IP: http://www.aippi.org/EPIC-Electronic Privacy Internet Center: http://www.aippi.org/INTA-International Trademark Association: http://www.inta.org/IPR-Intellectual Property Worldwide: http://www.ipworldwide.com/Imprimatur E.C. project: http://www.alcs.co.uk/IPR matter: http://www.tacd.org/meeting1/electronic.html#intellectual

Some Watermarking companies:Signum http://www.signumtech.comDigimarc, http://www.digimarc.comDICE-Giovanni http://www.bluespike.comMediasec: http://www.mediasec.comCopysight http://www.IP2.comSignafy: http://www.signafy.comEikona: http://www.alphatecltd.com/alphatec/sign.htmlSysCop http://syscop.igd.fhg.de/

LTS-Signal Processing Lab, Lausanne, CH.: http://ltswww.epfl.chwatermarking mailing list: http://ltswww.epfl.ch:1248/kutter/watermarking/wetter.html

------------------------------------------------For additional information please contact:Andrea de Poloc/o Alinari Photo ArchiveLargo Alinari 1550123 Firenze, Italytel +39-055-23951; fax +39-055-2382857email: andrea@alinari.it; http://www.alinari.com