Digital fingerprinting system that will catch up with copyright pirates

by Christopher Adams

Digital technology that injects invisible coded watermarks into images such as newspaper photographs, identity cards and hospital X-rays may soon be the only effective way to authenticate images.

An explosion in the exchange of information over media such as the internet and the development of powerful reproduction tools that replicate photographs perfectly has resulted in fierce legal battles over copyright.

According to Graham Shaw of Signum Technologies, a privately owned technology company formed last year to develop digital fingerprinting, abuse of copyright has reached worrying proportions.

Thirty per cent of all images used by news organisations worldwide are pirated each year, he says.

However, many self-employed photographers and smaller commercial enterprises typically do not have the resources for a prolonged and expensive legal battle or access to technology that could protect them against piracy.

"The growth of digital products does make copyright abuse more prevalent. It's not just images. We're finding a strong interest among companies wanting to protect their brand logos and corporate designs," says Cheltenham-based Signum.

The company yesterday unveiled plans for an insurance package, thought to be the first of its kind, that stamps individual signatures on images and covers the cost of litigation.

With C.E. Heath, the specialist Lloyd's of London insurance broker, and Beazley, a Lloyd's underwriting agency, Signum is to target freelance photographers, graphic designers and photographic libraries.

By interweaving a code through the pixels of an image, Signum says it can create an identity for data files that cannot be reproduced. Its methods can also be applied to audio and video records.

Mr Shaw says the digital fingerprint survives printing onto hard copy and withstands any blurring, sharpening or cropping. the software analyses an image to see whether there is an existing fingerprint and then inserts the identity codes. By scanning a reproduced photograph, it can identify the name, address and telephone number of the owner.

C.E. Heath said it would offer cover for up to £25,000 in legal costs. Premiums would depend on income, claims experience, and the limit of liability purchased. For example, a policyholder with a clean claims history and an annual income of £50,000 buying £20,000 of cover could expect to pay just over £300.

This article first appeared in "The Financial Times, Technology Worth Watching", 5 March 1998 and is reproduced by kind permission of The Financial Times, London.

This document is Copyright © 1998 The Financial Times. All rights reserved.

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