When Eyal Gura and colleague Offir Gutelzon co-founded a digital image “fingerprinting” firm to help copyright holders protect their intellectual property and develop a marketplace to license them, the two men — graduates of Israel’s IDC (Interdisciplinary Center) Herzliya — drew on a combination of military, cultural and business background to develop their business.
PicScout illustrates the way technology developed for one purpose can be leveraged to serve a variety of markets. It also shows how a small country with minimal natural resources can draw on knowledge-based resources to spur an outpouring of high-tech companies, say Wharton business experts.
“We believe that 85% of the images appearing on the Internet infringe on copyrights,” says Gutelzon, who serves as CEO. “PicScout developed image recognition technology that enables copyright owners to see where their images are being used and determine whether or not the usage infringes on their copyright.” Right now, the photo imaging industry loses more than $67 million a year in foregone revenue to unlicensed users, according to the trade association Stock Artists Alliance.
Established in 2002 with offices in Herzliya, Israel, and in Los Gatos, Calif., the privately owned company has grown quickly in recent years, from revenues of $2.5 million in 2006 to $4.5 million in 2009, according to Inc. magazine. In 2010, the magazine ranked PicScout’s percentage growth No. 34 among media companies and No. 2754 overall. PicScout, which has 60 employees, is also active in Europe and plans to expand into China and Russia — both hotbeds of copyright infringement — and possibly into South America.
Just as music and movie companies have long been concerned about Internet piracy — the unauthorized online distribution of songs and films — photographers and other owners of copyright-protected images continue to fret over unauthorized postings of their intellectual property. “It’s a huge potential market,” Gutelzon says. “It includes people who are being infringed on but it’s not limited to that, since we are also creating a central exchange for people who need to use images but don’t know where to legally find and license them.”
A business model like PicScout’s that targets an existing need instead of trying to create demand for a new one can be very effective, says Wharton marketing professor Jerry Wind. “The key is whether the company offers a truly innovative solution or is just trying to piggyback on existing demand. Starbucks, for example, took a commodity product, coffee, and built a premium experience around it. If PicScout delivers something new, rather than just something that’s slightly better, it has a better chance at long-term success.” Targeting the intellectual property market can make sense, he adds, because it’s so pervasive.
But unlocking the value of intellectual property involves determining how to protect and monetize it, notes Gary Shenk, CEO of photo-image supplier Corbis, chaired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Corbis and Getty Images, which both utilize PicScout’s services, are dominant players in the expanding photo-image supply market, licensing art to books, magazine, media production companies and other users. “If our images are pirated, it undermines the whole value concept of licensing and of paying artists for their creations,” Shenk says.
Corbis evaluated several of PicScout’s competitors but, “in deciding to go with PicScout, we considered its history, its technology and its proven track record,” he adds. Corbis also considered developing its own image search engine to detect unauthorized use, but the company decided that outsourcing would be more effective.
Stepping up Enforcement
PicScout’s technology may sound like something a law-enforcement agent would use, but the company itself is neutral about prosecuting copyright violators. “Our competitive advantage is the digital fingerprinting technology,” Gutelzon says. “We turn the information over to partners who decide what steps to take from there. This approach enables each company to focus on what it does best. Because we’re in a complementary position with regards to companies like Getty and Corbis, there’s no conflict. Instead, each company is helping to create more overall value.”
PicScout chairman Eyal Gura says he got the idea “when Offir and I were in the second year of the bachelor’s degree program of Wharton partner IDC Herzliya.” His then girlfriend, and now wife, was working at the Getty Images Israeli branch and “had to spend a few hours every day manually monitoring the web to detect potential image infringements.” After conceiving of a way to automate the process, “Offir and I started the company during our third year at IDC’s Sam Zell entrepreneurship program.”
Competition is always a concern, notes Gutelzon, who says the company stays ahead by continuing to plow funds back into research and development, by exploring new ways to expand its revenue stream and by looking to expand its geographic reach. “Most of our competition [for copyright search protection] primarily focuses on tracking text instead of images,” he adds.
Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish likes the company’s business model. “Contracting with major image providers to provide a significant service is a very good way to enter the market,” he says. He acknowledges the similarities in challenges faced by the digital imaging market and the music and film markets, but adds that there is a big difference.
“When you’re talking video or music file sharing, the users are likely to know that they’re violating copyrights,” he says. “But many people may not know about photographic copyrights. The fact that PicScout doesn’t get involved in enforcement — but focuses on tracking and identifying the images — is a powerful competitive advantage since it lets the company apply its skills in a targeted manner.”
Israel, says Wind, is fertile ground for high-tech startups. “The technology segment can offer many opportunities for businesses to launch or expand operations. But there is a great deal of competition in Israel and elsewhere, and the common thread, on a global scale, is the need for innovative discovery.”
For entrepreneurs like Gural and Offir, it’s a drive that’s almost part of their DNA. “Growing up in Israel you learn a lot about taking risks and relying on your abilities,” Offir says. “So it’s only natural to apply the lessons learned to your business.”
