One of the most serious threats to content creators, providers, broadcasters, and operators is internet content piracy because of the rapid growth in demand for digital video content and the rise of OTT services. This issue has gotten worse due to the surge in content consumption brought on by Covid-19.
DRM and CAS technologies do a good job of keeping these threats at bay, but only up to a certain point. The sophisticated piracy attach, which occurs at the user end when DRM protected content has been decrypted for viewing, renders them ineffective. Watermarking a video asset for forensic purposes is an option in this case. It is not possible to prevent piracy directly, but video watermarking technologies are useful in detecting infringement and taking action against offenders.
Media blocks are encoded with forensic watermarking vendor’s imperceptible data (such as a series of characters or a code) that contains critical information about the video asset and the end user. In order to change or delete this data, the host media would be severely damaged. This means that the video watermarking data is carried along with the copied media throughout the distribution network and copying procedures. Piracy distribution chains frequently contain data about the original distributor, owner, or subscriber, even though the pirate has made every effort to alter this data.
You can get ownership and user information from watermarked data, which can be used to track down the original source of piracy and take legal action against them, in the event that a video file is stolen and distributed via piracy networks. Depending on whether or not the original content is required, the extraction strategy is called “non-blind,” “informed,” or “blind,” depending on whether or not the original content is necessary. Even though security developers prefer blind extractions, non-blind techniques can enhance the mark’s utility by preventing pirates from accessing the original, unmarked content.
Once the source of the leak has been identified using the operator or subscriber mark of video watermarking, a variety of measures can be taken to combat its use and subsequent distribution as well as to prevent further leaks. The content owner can then use the leaked content to acquire information about its location, frequency, and timing in order to make an informed decision regarding preventing leaks and closely monitoring pirate attempts in specific areas.
One of the most potent tools in content owners’ arsenals to enforce compliance is forensic watermarking. It is impossible to stop piracy with video watermarking technology, but it always reaches the pirate because it embeds user-specific imperceptible data in each video frame. It provides evidence for content owners to prosecute pirates once it has been extracted.
