metadata connectsThe big news for artists is that a district court judge in California hinted that online providers who strip metadata from uploaded images might be in jeopardy of losing their "safe harbor" status under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

“[fr]om a logical perspective, metadata appears to be an easy and economical way to attach copyright information to an image.” excerpt from NPPA story

Service providers have long held deaf ears to calls by industry standards groups to respect and preserve metadata in uploaded, copyrighted content. Nonetheless:

"Cafe Press disputed the claim that its upload process interferes by stripping the information, claiming metadata as an anti-infringement tool has not been 'developed pursuant to a broad consensus of copyright owners and service providers in an open, fair, voluntary, multi-industry standards process.' " NPPA reported

Needless to say, we cannot sympathize with the Cafe Press defense. Being willfully ignorant of the extensive development efforts for metadata standards and terminolgy is not a defence at all. As just one example, the Library of Congress posts recognized standards in their Value Lists for Codes and Controlled Vocabularies. Similarly, there are many, many links on the web that engage in Controlled Vocabulary topics. One of our favorites is What is a Controlled Vocabulary, and how is it useful?.

The following list of resources show just a few of many groups dedicated to promoting standards and best practices.

Now, more than ever, artists need to understand the benefits and protections afforded those who take the time to organize and add appropriate metadata to their creations. Not only does it aid in resolving copyright infringement cases, it allows individual artists to be discovered, recognized and contacted for commissioning, if need be.