SAA Launches MetaSurvey

Do our Digital Images have Embedded Metadata? SAA is Conducting a MetaSurvey to Find Out.

The SAA Photo Metadata Project is now well underway with the launch of a comprehensive survey of metadata practices by photographers and stock image distributors. SAA will present its initial report of MetaSurvey findings at the 2nd International Photo Metadata Conference in Malta on June 6.

Preliminary MetaSurvey findings confirm what SAA has long suspected: Too many images in the licensing market lack key identifying and content information. "Our earlier survey findings show many photographers embed metadata to protect their images," Project Chair David Riecks reports, "but we are concerned to see that essential metadata is often lost as images move through the workflows of stock distributors and end users."

SAA's MetaSurvey is the first step in a yearlong project to raise awareness and promote use of metadata in digital image files. Funded by an award from the U.S. Library of Congress and matching grants from industry partners, this project expands the association's work to champion the use of photo metadata by everyone involved in image licensing - from photographers, to stock image distributors, to end users.

SAA has now conducted extensive random sampling of digital image files available on stock distributor websites to document the presence of metadata in thumbnails and larger preview images. The work continues as the team is now tracking sample images to see what happens to embedded metadata as files are forwarded on from distributors to multiple sub-distributors.

Later this summer, a full report of MetaSurvey findings will be published on a dedicated project web site alomg with a suite of online resources. A series of educational events to support and promote photo metadata use starts up this Fall.

"It's time to get serious about metadata," states Betsy Reid, SAA's executive director. "Images need embedded information about their ownership and content to facilitate use and protect them from misuse. This is now urgent given what we know about the high degree of infringements on the internet and the expected passage of Orphan Works legislation."

Introducing our Project Partners

In addition to the Library of Congress Award, SAA is pleased to announce that the Project is also supported by a diverse group of industry partners, each committed to the usability and preservation of digital images.

Microsoft has shown its commitment to metadata portability by storing information within digital image files, in addition to creating an extensible, system--wide platform for image handling that will reduce the need for sidecar files. www.microsoft.com

Adobe is the leader in building XMP metadata technology that powers platforms and products used by the creative community to better manage media assets and workflow, enabling creators to more efficiently express their vision. www.adobe.com

IPTC, the International Press Telecommunications Council, develops and maintains the most widely used photo metadata standards. www.iptc.org

CameraBits is the maker of Photo Mechanic^TM, powerful image-editing software that helps photographers easily add metadata to their digital files. www.camerabits.com

PicScout deploys advanced visual search technologies to protect the image collections of the world's top distributors on the internet and across other media. www.picscout.com

About SAA's Library of Congress Award

The Library of Congress awarded the Stock Artists Alliance one of eight partnerships for preserving digital media through its Preserving Creative America initiative, a part of the Library's National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP).

SAA's award acknowledges the association's ongoing work to promote the importance of using and preserving photo metadata, emphasizing the high-risk area of stock photography. An active proponent of image metadata use and best practices, SAA established itself as a leader with the publication of the widely recognized Metadata Manifesto