News
Silicon Valley start-up launches Attributor to address online copyright infringement
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Attributor Corp., of Redwood City, California, has designed a system for scanning the Internet for possible infringing use of all types of content, including text, music, video and imagery. According to the article, the privately held company will index billions of web-pages and search them for matches with content owned by their clients using a technique known as "digital fingerprinting". The fact that the company has the backing of several well-known and successful technology executives and other technology investment firms lends credibility to the company's claims that its technology performs a much more comprehensive search than those of existing content search companies.
The Wall Street Journal article states: Attributor's "co-founders, former Yahoo Inc. executive Jim Brock, Jim Brock and Jim Pitkow, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has sold companies to Google and VeriSign Inc. claim to have cracked the thorny computer-science problem of scouring the entire Web by using undisclosed technology to efficiently process and comb through chunks of content." The article does not explain how or how much the company will charge for the use of its technology. Attributor is expected to announce today that it has received $10MM in financing from its investors.
The article implies the company will focus entirely on online uses of content, but not on print infringements. The Stock Photography industry has for several years been served in a similar manner by the Israeli company PicScout, which has provided an online image usage search service and more recently has added print searches to its service as well.
For more information visit the WSJ article or www.Attributor.com.
Posted in: Legal / Copyright, News, Photographers, Stock Photo Companies
