Recent trends in image watermarking techniques for copyright protection: a survey

Digital copyright protection signifies the technology of rights protection, utilization control, and management of digital substances in the activity of production, propagation, retailing, and consumption. In the era of digital boom in information technology and multimedia, malicious exploitations and piracy have become a global phenomenon; thus, the need for digital content protection is inexorable. Image watermarking has been advocated universally to resolve innumerable dilemmas correlated with issues in the fields of digital rights management and multimedia security. According to anticipated applications, various suitable image watermarking procedures have been designed to safeguard the copyright of digital subjects. In this study, contemporary developments of digital image watermarking techniques are appraised so as to identify state-of-the-art practices and their limitations. This research contribution will be expedient for the academics in instigating efficient watermarking techniques for copyright authentication.