If media companies’ attempts to track down unauthorized use of their video content on file-sharing services was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack, Audible Magic believes it has a very powerful magnet necessary to the task. In a NYT profile, the Los Gatos, CA company demonstrates its content-recognition software, which Audible Magic claims can locate even the blurriest forms of online video piracy. The demonstration involved Vance Ikezoye, Audible Magic’s chief executive, downloading a grainy clip with Chinese-language overdubs on YouTube that looked like it was filmed with a camcorder in a movie theater. In a matter of moments,  Audible Magic’s filtering software identified it as the sword-training scene that begins 49 minutes and 37 seconds into the Miramax film Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Audible Magic’s software can comb through a database for matches using a digital fingerprinting. Copyrighted material can then be blocked or posted, depending on whether it is licensed for use on the site.
So far audio fingerprinting technologies have been used successfully for some time to detect copyrighted music on file-sharing networks and, to a smaller degree, to identify music tracks on social networks. Speaking of which, MySpace said last week it would use Audible Magic’s system to identify copyrighted material on its pages. Meanwhile, YouTube been promising some form of filtering technology for months, though the Google-owned site said it would only use such technology for companies that sign licensing agreements. Naturally, this stance has displeased companies like NBC and Viacom, which notably yanked its videos from the site earlier this month.
Other file-sharing networks and smaller video sites like Guba.com and Grouper.com are already using more basic filters that monitor video soundtracks and music files, hoping to appease copyright holders and stay out of the courtroom. The Times piece also points out that another company racing to provide a piracy solution, Attributor, a Redwood City, CA start-up, is taking a different approach to filtering: It is developing automated software that will travel the internet looking for copyrighted text, audio and video.
As for whether digital fingerprinting is the rescue the industry has been hoping for, when it comes to video, it is not a panacea, said Bill Rosenblatt, president of media consultancy GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies. He noted that there were also more ways to fool the technology – for example, by cropping the image.
—MySpace’s Filtering Efforts Begin
—Music Labels To Take Stake in YouTube? UMG, SonyBMG, EMI Also Talking
—The Magic Behind the Music