The Stock Artists Alliance has published a Metadata Manifesto that calls for a co-ordinated effort from photographers, users and distributors of digital images to develop standardised practices for usign metadata in digital images.

 

July 14, 2006: The Stock Artists Alliance has published a Metadata Manifesto that calls for a co-ordinated effort from photographers, users and distributors of digital images to develop standardised practices for usign metadata in digital images.
The group, which was founded in 2001, is an international organisation consisting of photographers who produce images for rights-protected license. Its mission is to protect and promote the business interests of its members with regard to the worldwide distribution of their intellectual property. For full details, go to www.stockartistsalliance.org.
The Metadata Manifesto provides guiding principles and practices for anyone who creates, uses, or manages electronic images, as well as those developing digital hardware and software. It results from concerns that, as images are disseminated, their underlying information is often lost. With the continuing fragmentation of the stock photography market and proposed copyright law changes that would undermine protections for owners of so-called “orphan works,” SAA believes it is now critical to increase metadata use and support, the group explains in its press release. The manifesto calls for industry-wide commitment to metadata and technology that makes it easy to embed it, preserve it, and facilitate tracking and rights management. Readers can comment on the Manifesto and the issue of metadata at http://MetadataManifesto.blogspot.com/.