The Metadata Manifesto

There is much discussion about DRM and the general control of licensed content. A key starting point, however, in such discussions, that of intellectual property ownership and identification, is frequently overlooked. Regardless of whether a piece of content is licensed on a fee or royalty-free basis, there is still the issue of ownership and appropriate attribution.

The importance of this is amplified by the new digital supply chain environments that introduce multiple channels of distribution and more complications relating to rights management and tracking. At any point in the content flow, we should be able to appropriately identify the content, its creator, and owner. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to do so because the proper metadata is missing or not accessible. Although the following example refers to activities within the stock photo industry, where there are efforts being made to address these issues, these recommendations apply to all content formats.

This posting deals with the reasons for applying good metadata to photos and its relevance in the digital asset supply chain and for digital rights management. This discussion in not so much a “how to” as it is a “why should we.”

I have taken this information from the StockArtistsAlliance (SAA) Web site. The SAA “is an international organization of photographers who produce images for rights-protected license. The mission of the SAA is to protect and promote the business interests of its members with regard to the worldwide distribution of their intellectual property.” [Note: I am using this as an example of best practices for metadata application and use, but do not endorse any specific policy positions of the SAA.]

In July 2006, the SAA issued the Metadata Manifesto which is a proposal for the adoption of guiding principles, standards and technology to promote image metadata use. There are three guiding principles laid out in the Mainifesto:

1. Metadata is essential to identify and track digital images
2. Ownership metadata must never be removed
3. Metadata must be written in formats that are understood by all.

The SAA points out that there is much more to metadata than a file name and some keywords. In addition to descriptive metadata about the content, it is equally important to include metadata such as the creator*, contact details, and rights information. The SAA also has identified and verified issues in the commercial world where the metadata, including the creator and rights metadata, has been removed as stock photos move through the digital asset supply chain, thus posing legal issues regarding ownership and compensation. Finally, they have identified Adobe’s, XMP, Extensible Metadata Platform, framework as the recommended format in conjunction with the Dublin Core terms.

The Manifesto can be downloaded from the link at the end of this posting. It presents the necessary details and contains an excellent metadata resource list. The document contains only five pages of text and is a quick, but pertinent, read.

* Note the use here of the term creator rather than photographer. This is an important point that we should apply when specifying metadata systems or setting up templates. There is a need to use standard terminology to facilitate searches and content interchange. Depending on the type of content, it may be created by an author, a photographer, a poet, an illustrator, a composer, or a painter, etc. This can lead to confusion. The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative standardizes this by use of the term creator for all types of content.

To obtain a copy of the document, click on this link: SAA Metadata Manifesto.