How Easy It Is to Remove Watermarks From Photos | Google's Algo!

by Satefa f. Ncious - Get Everything You Need to Know

Today, Google's research department detailed how easy it is for computer algorithms to circumvent the practice of standard photo watermarks, depriving these images of copyright protection and making them vulnerable to being republished on the internet without credit. The study, presented at a major computer vision conference in Hawaii in July, is described in detail in an article titled "On the Effectiveness of Visible Water Signals."

Vulnerabilities

Often associated with identified vulnerabilities in operating systems, applications, or protocols, we want to address these vulnerabilities and offer solutions to help the photo and archival imaging communities better adapt and protect copyrighted content and creations, Tali Dekel and Michael Rubinstein, a research scientist at Google, explains in a post published today on Google's research blog.

Watermarking Processes

Dekel and Rubinstein point out that the main problem with watermark processes in photography today is the high degree of consistency of style. We demonstrate that this consistency can be used to reverse the process of applying a watermark, that is, to evaluate the watermark image and its transparency, and to restore the original image without the watermark, the duo explains below. All of this can be done automatically, without user intervention or prior knowledge of watermark, and only by following a collection of watermark images that are available on the Internet.

The team behind the watermark removal algorithm was able to teach the software with enough massive examples to identify watermark patterns and then separate the components of the watermark from the rest of the image through a process called multi-image matting. Later, because the software understands the transparency, structure, and shadow or color gradient effects of watermark elements, Google's algorithm can remove it from any photo with a specific watermark or similar. You can read more here https://www.pixelo.net/google-shows-an-easy-way-to-remove-watermarks/.

Copyright Protections

To get around this problem and create stronger copyright protection for images on the internet, the team suggests adding elements of randomness to the watermark. However, you can't just change the design or make changes to the transparency of the watermark, Dekel and Rubinstein explain. Instead, you must make changes that leave artifacts visible after the removal process.

Final Words

This involves adding random geometric distortions to the watermark, effectively distorting the text and logos. Thus, when the algorithms that Google uses try to clarify the watermark, they leave out the contours of the image, since these systems are trained to seek consistency and work by addressing the vulnerabilities inherent in this consistency.