Facebook has acquired intellectual property startup Source3 to root out users who share pirated content like videos.
Source3, which announced the acquisition on its website, did not disclose terms of the deal. The startup didn’t provide many details, but it appears that Facebook is gaining Source3’s tech and talent who have an expertise in IP, trademark, and copyright.
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The acquisition comes as Facebook tries to become a destination for people to create and share video content that they’ve created. The social network hired Ricky Van Veen, the co-founder of CollegeHumor, last year to expand its video efforts and has been signing deals with companies like BuzzFeed, Vox, and Group Nine for access to both short and longer clips.
But that effort can’t be successful without a way to quickly identify pirated content. Enter Source3.
Last year, Facebook introduced Rights Manager software, which allow creators to tag or fingerprint their content. The tool works similarly to YouTube’s Content ID. Creators can collect revenue from users who post their content without permission, or simply block uploads to Facebook altogether. The Source3 tech would make Rights Manager a more robust weapon.
Tech news site Recode was the first to report Facebook’s Source3 acquisition.