To raise awareness about metadata and encourage its adoption, the Stock Artists Alliance has released its Metadata Manifesto, a list of guidelines for the creation, use and management of digital images.

SAA, an international organization of photographers who produce images for rights-protected licenses, warns that, as images are disseminated, their underlying information often is lost. The problem is becoming more acute, the group says, with the continuing fragmentation of the stock photography market and proposed copyright law changes that would affect protections for owners of so-called orphan works.

SAA believes that it is critical to increase the use and support of metadata because it can provide ownership and usage information, as well as descriptive caption information that can be used to help search and identify image subjects.

The American Society of Media Photographers has announced its support of SAA Metadata Manifesto, calling it a key to solving the current orphan works dilemma and a necessity for the future of rights-managed photography.To see the complete Metadata Manifesto, see stockartistsalliance.org.