Media fingerprint technology isn't exactly new. Movie studios use it when they send out screeners to track down who's leaking copies of Hancock on BitTorrent. Record companies do the same with advanced albums. And now … the Associated Press? Using a technology from Attributor, the AP plugs its copyrighted content into the software, which then crawls the web to match strings of that content against material published elsewhere. If a match is made, the AP (or other clients) are alerted, and "the software can be programmed to automatically send out 'takedown notices' that require sites to remove contested content, and the data it generates could end up being used to build a case against alleged copyright infringers."

That's how the AP originally found all that material on The Drudge Retort, and started a flame war with bloggers.

One big problem: The software will likely have a hard time, or no ability at all, to determine actual fair use (like a video clip snippet for a movie review) and genuine infringement, which means there's room for plenty of false positives. And if the software automatically fires off a DMCA takedown notice, folks like the AP could find themselves in trouble of their own: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act bars copyright owners from issuing this types of requests for instances when there is no actual infringement (i.e. sending the notices as a bullying tactic), and can hold those owners liable for the defense's damages, including legal fees.

But this type of software, it turns out, can be used for good! And surprise of all surprises, none other than Conde Nast sees the light.

Just ask Sarah Chubb, president of CondéNet.com, owner of sites ranging from the Epicurious.com cooking site to fashion site Style.com to WiredDigital, the online arm of Wired magazine. A few years ago, Chubb enlisted a team of people to scour the Web for unlicensed content use. Now she has a team that does the opposite—figuring out how to get CondéNet's recipes, fashion photos, and other content onto up-and-coming blogs and social networking sites. Her team is using Attributor's system not to issue takedown notices but to spot new targets. "We used to build our sites on the idea that people would come to our home page," Chubb says. "Now, we're consciously trying to put our content in a lot of places. In most of those cases, there's a revenue opportunity for us," she says, adding that she has no interest in using the technology to launch lawsuits.

[Business Week]