The already fraught relationship between AI and the creative industry may soon take a turn for the worse thanks to Watermark Remover.io, a free service that can completely erase watermarks from images.
The functionality of Watermark Remover.io is not new – similar tools already exist; you can remove watermarks using fill in Adobe Photoshop. However, they are not as accessible as Watermark Remover.io and often require some kind of payment, unlike the new AI tool, which is free and already available in a web version and an Android app.
The tool is particularly interesting in the context of AI’s disruptive impact on creative industries, including stock image companies that rely on watermarks to protect their content. Stock image giant Shutterstock recently introduced its own image text generator based on OpenAI’s DALL-E 2, and Adobe Stock has allowed AI-generated content to be sold on its platform.
Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and other similar platforms place large watermarks on their content to prevent images from being used without permission. These companies will be happy with AI as long as it generates money for them, but the features of Watermark Remover.io are unlikely to please them.
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The Verge tested the tool and got rid of Shutterstock and Adobe Stock watermarks in seconds. Watermark Remover.io also managed to completely remove the large individual watermarks that Shutterstock uses on its preview images, although it was unable to remove similar Getty images.
In fact, the Getty watermark has proven to be the most resistant to automated removal tools. (Getty Images has taken a different stance on AI than Shutterstock and Adobe, banning all AI-generated content on its platform over copyright concerns and saying it will sue Stability AI for “illegally” copying millions of images for training).
Watermark Remover.io also failed to remove artist signatures that are sometimes present on images.
While removing a watermark without the consent of the original owner is illegal in the US, tools that help users bypass copyright protection, such as Watermark Remover.io, are not necessarily illegal. Because the current legal landscape around AI and copyright laws is incredibly confusing, there are calls for clearer regulation.
The authors of Watermark Remover.io in the comments to the tool put all the responsibility on the users:
“Users are responsible for any claims, damages, costs, expenses, lawsuits, etc., brought by any third party related to the use of the image result with removed watermarks. You must obtain the consent or approval of the owner of the original image before using the image for any commercial use.”
Source: The Verge
