Facebook introduced a tool to battle unauthorized embedded content
This week, Facebook has introduced a new tool “Rights Manager” that allows content makers and rights holders (the latter in particular) to protect and manage their photos on Facebook and Instagram. In 2016 a similar technology was launched, aiming on detecting and putting down stolen video content. The cool thing about Rights Manager in 2020, though, is that it now works for both Facebook and Instagram, tracking the embedded images on external websites. The Rights Manager is now available in the Facebook Creator Studio. To start off the licensing process, rights owners must provide a copy of the images they want to protect along with a CSV file with the metadata. Both are used for identifying potential copies of content online. Also, the creator doesn’t need to post content on social media for this tech to work.
Here’s how the matching works: when a copy of a content piece is found on a page\profile, the rightsholder is notified and can take one of the potential routes: simply monitor the content, block its use via takedown request or add its own credits via the ownership tool. Some options are also available: for example, you can decide if your ownership rights apply worldwide or in certain locations.
A protected future for content creators
The feature is primarily designed for those, who post content regularly with a fairly large catalog of photos on platforms. For others, there’s an IP form with some handy features, like reporting multiple images at the same time.
This opens a few additional opportunities for content creators to protect their work on Facebook and Instagram. Before, there was no reasonable way to resolve copyright conflicts for creators: you either make your account private or disable embedding of content entirely, neither of which can be considered a good alternative.
What does it mean for the advertising industry? The compliant players won’t be affected by the new tool at all. Smaller companies and those who use unauthorized content on social pages will experience some troubles, further spurring the discussion about a content generation for marketing.