When it comes to sharing media, videos, music and documents have been very easy to share. Services like YouTube, Vimeo, Google Docs and Soundcloud all provide widgets which can be placed on a blog and then attributed to the source.
However, when it comes to images, anyone is able to download and share a copy, passing it off as their own and stripping the original creator of his/her copyright claims. A new tool called Picuous aims to change this, providing a service that enabled users to upload and share their pictures, whilst keeping some control over the rights of their work.
The service works by providing an embeddable HTML5 widget that displays your images but also offers viewers the option to share, like and embed your images, without leeching your bandwidth, copy and pasting them or downloading a copy of their own. For the owner, the widget will track where the images have been embedded and will provide analytics on who has viewed them.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Users can drag-and-drop images into the Picuous website, which will then automatically process the images and provide unqiue embed codes and sharing options. It supports galleries, looking very similar to the Posterous image viewer at times. There is also the option to sell images on the website, via the widget, should the user wish.
Picuous is still in beta, meaning at the moment it is free to all users. When the service officially launched, the service will limit free users to a number of specific images, removing limits when a user pays for the service.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.