Anyone here interested in a custom watermark solution like this?
By watermark, I don't mean a watermark solution like placing "somewebsite.com" on the bottom of the video. The solution I am proposing would be an intelligently placed, almost invisible to the naked eye (unless actively searching for it), "watermark" that consists of a UNIQUE identification string. This could be something like a timestamp+ip+username or something like an ID number for a record in a database.
This solution would:
1. Watermark video in real-time as it leaves your server, whether streaming or being downloaded via right click "save as".
2. Not require ANY re-encoding of video.
3. Support ALL major codecs and containers (yes).
4. Support existing STREAMING protocols (yes).
5. Can still be identified by our software regardless of whether the video was cropped, re-sized, re-sampled / re-encoded, or screen grabbed.
6. The watermark is placed ONTO the video in random areas, large & small. Yet still very unobtrusive. It can't be cut out or blocked without ruining the user experience.
Even if the video is cut into clips, chances are those clips will have your watermark. If the quality is dropped, the watermarks can still be identified (they are based on the VISIBLE FRAME not the data).
The only way to circumvent this watermark would be to:
1. Identify when the watermark is displayed and cut out the frames.
2. Identify when the watermark is displayed and obstruct the watermark.
3. Downsize the quality to something that the average user probably wouldn't bother watching anyway.
4. Skip this video and move on to something else less time consuming.
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I wrote a bit about this a while ago, but the project was shelved as I got pulled into other projects.
Whether it is my project or someone elses, this is one of the ONLY methods I can see at protecting your video today. How else can you do this that hasn't been circumvented already?
Sure this can be circumvented but it would be time consuming and the result would most likely be something pretty annoying to watch.
Being able to associate a single download with a user would IN THEORY allow one to hold someone legally responsible for illegal file sharing. Even if this video is re-encoded or manipulated, this video is ALWAYS associated with this user - so when it gets out, and shared, you know who to look at, what account to shut down, perhaps even hold legally accountable for damages, etc.
Here are some frame grabs of a video (from a harry potter trailer, text was fading in):
With watermark (frame 1)
With watermark (frame 2)
No watermark (frame 3)
Identifying watermark & message in software
Yes it is noticeable in frame grabs like this, but when a normal user is watching a video, a few well placed random watermarked frames will typically go completely unnoticed. There is more to it than this, but you get the idea.
The project is still in a pretty early stage of development but it works. The end product could be a software and / or a hardware solution.
Now, I'm looking for someone with some backing that is interested in taking this to the next level.