PicScout's ImageExchange plug-in will be in beta testing soon.
In a series of product announcements Wednesday—including a Web browser plug-in designed to display image credits—PicScout is signaling a change in direction. The company’s main business has been selling rights tracking services to stock image libraries, using sophisticated technology that can match digital images even if they’ve been re-sized or altered. Now the firm, which is based in Israel and the U.S., is expanding into services that could be useful for independent photographers, picture editors and consumers.
In the past few years, several other companies and organizations have proposed creating an online image registry. Proponents say it would solve the vexing problem of how to figure out who owns images online, prevent infringement, and help rights holders earn more money from their work. But no one has succeeded in building a useful registry, in part because of the monumental task of acquiring data on who controls the rights to photographs. PicScout has at least one advantage: It already works with many major stock agencies, including Getty Images and Corbis.
PicScout has announced two brand extensions:
* Image IRC, a services platform that will include an image registry. The acronym stands for index, registry and connection. PicScout plans to provide an API (application programming interface) so online programmers can make use of the registry.
* ImageExchange, a Firefox browser add-on. The software is designed to superimpose an information icon over photographs that appear on Web sites. When a user clicks on the icon, they will see the metadata PicScout has on file for that image. In many cases, PicScout will be able to connect users to the original licensor if they want to purchase the rights to the image. PicScout plans to begin beta testing the plug-in soon.
PicScout says its registry will include images from stock agencies, professional photographers and user-generated content tagged with Creative Commons licenses.
So far, PicScout has not announced how individual photographers will be able to participate in the registry, nor has it explained its revenue model for these new services. The company says it plans more announcements next week, timed with the PictureHouse trade show in New York.
