Tag Archive: InVID

InVID and First Draft News partnership started

InVID and First Draft News partnership started

InVID and First Draft News partnership started!

We are thrilled to announce the participation of the InVID project to the partner network of First Draft News, that aims to tackle issues of trust and truth in reporting information that emerges online. The members of the InVID consortium will join their efforts for developing technologies for video verification, with a group of over thirty major news and technology organizations including (but not restricted to) Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, The New York Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, CNN, ABC News (Australia), AJ+, ProPublica, Agence France-Presse, Channel 4 New and The Telegraph.

Check the First Draft News public announcement for further details about this collaboration!

InVID video demo on similarity search

InVID video demo on similarity search

Check out the new InVID video demo on similarity search for video verification, made by Denis Teyssou of AFP.

Starting from a video uploaded to YouTube on March 7th 2016, Denis demonstrates a verification process based on reverse image search using keyframes and the YouTube API. The outcome of this process can assist journalists in making a decision about the originality of the video. Other InVID technologies for visual analysis that are currently under development, such as sub-shot segmentation and logo detection, can enhance the efficiency and the robustness of video similarity search.

For further news, stay tuned on the InVID YouTube channel!

Dealing with UGC and its ownership – Interview with DW’s Head of Social Media News

Dealing with UGC and its ownership – Interview with DW’s Head of Social Media News

How do news providers deal with user-generated content? What are current challenges, especially with regards to content ownership and copyright? Deutsche Welle’s Head of Social Media News, Kristin Zeier, tells us about current practices and respective issues.

Question: What are the major copyright challenges you have when thinking about using content sourced from social media?

Answer: The major issue with copyright is definitely video. We have come to rely on social media – and in particular User Generated Content – in breaking news situations when it is the fastest source for eyewitness accounts. In this day and age, hardly an event takes place without someone recording it on their smartphones and posting it to one of their social networks. Still photos from news events are good too, but video – even vertical video – is preferable as it works best when integrated into our TV news report formats.

However, using UGC video from eyewitnesses poses several challenges; the first of which is verification (which I won’t go into at this point, as it has been discussed more thoroughly in other places on this site). Once we have verified that content is legitimate, we need to contact the original owner of the video for final confirmation and permission to publish / broadcast the video. The copyright owner is not always the uploader or the person who shared the video, so we need to contact the person who originally shot the video in the first place. This is the most time-consuming part of the process because we have to wait for the owner to respond to our initial contact request. Sometimes the owner may be in a different time zone or not have the technical capabilities to respond to us quickly. That’s time we don’t necessarily have in a breaking news situation. It’s also a frustrating part of the process because while we wait for a response, a couple of things may happen at the same time:

The person who originally shot and shared the UGC content may have already agreed with another media outlet or a licensing agency to provide content exclusively to them. All other requests must then go through the new owners, which slows the process even more and could ultimately end in a rebroadcasting fee. The original owner may have agreed to let several other media outlets publish the content free of charge, which then means the content is no longer exclusive and the “scoop” diminishes. It’s also possible that a user may retroactively remove initially posted content out of fear of attracting too much attention or because the user is tired of being hounded by press requests. Particularly with regard to sensitive issues, increased press attention can lead to negative consequences for the eyewitness who posted exclusive content.

Another factor we may face once we establish content with the copyright holder is that they want to be paid for allowing us to use their content. As a public broadcaster, we at DW don’t pay for UGC content a user uploads to their personal accounts. In this we regard we are following recommendations established within the ARD verification network.

An additional concern for an international broadcaster like DW is to make sure the owner of the copyright material understands that his/her content will be broadcast globally on TV, embedded in online articles and shared across social media platforms, possibly also in various languages. The owner of the material needs to agree to this. Particularly in cases of sensitive material the owner must be made aware of these possible distribution platforms. Examples of this could be photos or video recordings of controversial issues in repressive media markets where it is clear that the eyewitness was at or near the events and possibly partaking of them (i.e. demonstrations). Owners of the copyright material should also be asked how they want to be identified as a source. Many in repressive media markets wish to remain anonymous.

Question: Do you employ the argument of fair use or fair dealing when using content sourced from social media? How does this work in your jurisdiction?

Answer: When social media content is directly related to a breaking news story and is central to understanding a story’s development, then we assume it falls under fair use dealing as our legal department has defined it with us. Examples of this could be smartphone video recordings of a police shooting or footage of the tanks rolling during a coup – content that is intended to help the public better understand and appreciate the dimensions of a news story. The fair use argument also applies to any content published by official public institutes, government agencies or NGOs on social media with the intention of being consumed by the public. When it is clear that the user who uploaded content is interested in having the message spread, we also consider it to fall under the terms of fair use – in the case that it is directly connected to a breaking news event.

By applying the fair use terms, we are able to momentarily forgo obtaining explicit permission to use social media content. This speeds up the process in a breaking news situation, but it does not eliminate the need for identifying the owner of the material, a step that is still crucial in the verification process.

All content that is not related to an immediate breaking news situation and was not intended for public dissemination does not fall under the fair use terms as we have interpreted them. In these cases we need to seek permission from the copyright holder to publish / broadcast the content.

Question: What is your recommendation for news organisations struggling with social media content usage and copyright?

Answer: The first step is getting faster and more accurate in identifying the original owner of the video material. The verification process can be quite time-consuming, but forgoing this can also lead down the wrong paths and cost additional time in contacting the correct owner.

It’s really crucial for media outlets to establish a list of basic copyright guidelines with their legal departments so they can act quickly and efficiently whenever the need arises. Otherwise getting legal approval each time the need arises can cost too much time. Developing a good working relationship with the legal department is also key, because this allows for the legal department to better understand the needs of the journalists and their program decisions.

Note: the interview was conducted in writing by Jochen Spangenberg with Kristin Zeier and it was first published on the REVEAL project website (http://revealproject.eu/dealing-with-ugc-and-its-ownership-interview-with-dws-head-of-social-media-news/). Parts of this interview will feature in a forthcoming study by Sam Dubberley who initiated the exchange.

TUNGSTÈNE Technology was used on MH17 crash investigation

TUNGSTÈNE Technology was used on MH17 crash investigation. The American blog www.armscontrolwonk.com published a full analysis made by a team from the Middlebury Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). The researchers have determined that images the Russian government published as part of its investigation into the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine two years ago have been “significantly modified or altered”. Jeffrey Lewis, Melissa Hanham, Catherine Dill and Dave Schmerler of CNS analyzed the images using Tungstène, a suite of forensic software that is used in the InVID project for detecting alterations to images, that was provided by an anonymous donor (MIIS). The full review is available here. Furthermore, this published analysis was also covered by The New York Times

InVID presented at European Data Forum EDF 2016

InVID presented at European Data Forum EDF 2016

InVID presented at European Data Forum EDF 2016. The European Data Forum is the EC flagship event for Big Data and Data Science. Around 800 researchers and industry practitioners met to hear about the latest trends and innovations and exchange ideas and results. InVID was present among other EU projects and researchers in a poster space in the top ring of the architecturally interesting Evoluon centre in Eindhoven, Holland. During the two days of the event in June 2016, participants came by, saw the InVID poster and asked about the project. The verification aspect proved particularly significant, as the big data community largely focuses on how to collect, analyse and visualise data but less on how to verify whether the data is valid in the first place. Building on other projects that have begun to tackle this challenge on textual and image data (e.g. PHEME, REVEAL) the goal of InVID to verify video, the most rapidly growing media type on the Web today, attracted a great deal of interest. We look forward to following up with the EDF community in coming years with InVID demos.

Survey on copyright management of user generated video

Survey on copyright management of user generated video

Survey on copyright management of user generated video. The InVID project develops a social media video content verification platform to detect and verify newsworthy video files shared via social media. Besides verification of UGV, another issue that the news industry faces is how to ensure a correct management of copyright on such content is done, so that copyright infringement risks (claims and suits) can be minimised.

For that purpose, InVID platform includes a UGV rights management tool that aims at ensuring, as far as possible, a legal use of UGV. The process aims at collecting as much information as possible from metadata on social media content (UGV), as well as from exchanges between UGV creators and the platform, providing clear indications on re-use conditions, limits and/or risks, and allowing licences to be managed from the platform itself.

This questionnaire aims to gather feedback about how the news industry is currently facing this issue and to guide the development of the InVID platform so it can assist media companies during this part of the process. The survey is composed of 6 sections, a total of 25 questions and should take you no longer than 15 minutes. Thanks for your contribution!

Please, note that the survey will be treated anonymously and no confidential or personal information will be published without your prior consent.

For taking the survey please click here.

InVID at Global Media Forum

InVID at Global Media Forum

InVID at Global Media Forum. Mr. Jochen Spangenberg, Mr. Ruben Bouwmeester and Mr. Tim Koch from Deutsche Welle, a member of the InVID consortium, will attend the Global Media Forum that will take place in Bonn, Germany on 13-15 June 2016. On the first day of the forum (13 June 2016) Jochen will participate on a panel talking about verification of User Generated Content. The title of the discussion is “Fact and fancy – how verification can protect our news.” Further details about the session can be found at: http://www.dw.com/en/fact-and-fancy-how-verification-can-protect-our-news/a-19197673

In addition, Tim, Ruben and Jochen will take part in various hands-on verification sessions and project demos (also showing the InVID approach, its challenges and aims) to the conference audience in a dedicated area that was staffed over the entire conference duration. The overall conference attendance will be about 2,000 people, including media folks, politicians, activists and many more (for further details see also the speakers list at: http://www.dw.com/en/global-media-forum/speakers/s-101041)

InVID at Futur en Seine digital festival

InVID at Futur en Seine digital festival

InVID at Futur en Seine digital festival. Mr. Denis Teyssou from Agence France-Presse (AFP), a member of the InVID consortium, will participate in the Futur en Seine digital festival that will take place in Paris, France between the 9th and 19th of June 2016. During the first four days of the event (9 – 12 June) Mr. Teyssou will be in the AFP stand, giving oral and poster presentations about the InVID project. The festival will be attended by professionals during the first two days and general public during the week-end. The full program of the festival can be seen at: http://www.futur-en-seine.paris/programme