Custos Media Technologies

Custos Media Technologies provides a deterrent against digital media piracy by embedding imperceptible watermarks in files, a process backed by blockchain technology. The company originated in 2013 as a spin-out from the MIH Media Lab at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. It was founded by a cross-disciplinary team including G-J van Rooyen, Fred Lutz, and Herman Lintvelt, who brought together expertise in signal processing, economics, and computer science. Van Rooyen, the CEO, holds a PhD in Electronic Engineering and founded the MIH Media Lab. COO Fred Lutz's master's degree in economics focused specifically on media piracy, and CTO Herman Lintvelt previously founded and exited a mobile and IoT application development house.

The core of the business is a patented technology that embeds a cryptocurrency bounty, like Bitcoin, within each media file's watermark. This watermark is unique to each recipient, containing a private key to a crypto wallet. If a file is leaked, anyone who finds it can use a free tool, called Privateer, to extract the watermark and anonymously claim the cryptocurrency bounty. This action simultaneously and instantly informs Custos of the leak and identifies the original source, creating a strong deterrent against initial sharing. This model turns pirates into a global, decentralized network of bounty hunters, effectively monitoring for leaks across the internet, including the dark web and private file-sharing groups. This approach is designed as a form of social DRM (Digital Rights Management), where the threat of detection discourages piracy from the outset.

Custos serves clients primarily in the film and television industry, especially for protecting pre-release screener copies, but has also expanded into protecting ebooks, educational content, and sensitive enterprise documents. The business operates on a B2B model, offering its technology as an API that integrates into clients' existing media distribution workflows, making it an accessible solution for both large studios and independent producers. This allows for the rapid creation of individually watermarked copies without significant processing overhead. The company has received multiple rounds of funding, including from Innovus Technology Transfer, the Digital Currency Group (DCG) in New York, and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).

Keywords: anti-piracy, forensic watermarking, blockchain security, digital rights management, content protection, media security, screener protection, bitcoin bounty, leak detection, video security, document security, intellectual property protection, API integration, cryptocurrency incentive, decentralized detection, media technology, film industry security, ebook protection, digital asset protection, content monetization