A Hierarchical Multi-Modal Signatures for OTT Content Identification and Redistribution Detection

A Hierarchical Multi-Modal Signatures for OTT Content Identification and Redistribution Detection | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A Hierarchical Multi-Modal Signatures for OTT Content Identification and Redistribution Detection Byeongchan Park, Seok-Yoon Kim, Youngmo Kim This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9183859/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract As OTT services continue to expand, the distribution paths of premium video content have become increasingly diverse, making it essential to accurately identify and detect redistributed content under various transformations such as re-encoding, subtitle insertion, resolution changes, and aspect-ratio modification. Conventional hash-based methods often face limitations in such environments because low-level representations may change even when the semantic identity of the content remains intact. Therefore, a more robust content identification and verification method is required for OTT environments. This study proposes hierarchical multi-modal signatures for OTT content identification and redistribution detection. The proposed method extracts representative frames from HLS-based streaming segments and refines visual features through preprocessing and postprocessing, which are then combined with hash values, metadata, and rights information to generate searchable content signatures. In addition, a hierarchical verification procedure is applied to improve both retrieval efficiency and identification accuracy. The proposed study extends conventional signature generation techniques for illegal streaming detection toward OTT-oriented content identification and redistribution detection, and it can serve as a basis for content protection, distribution monitoring, and rights verification in OTT platforms. OTT Streaming Content Identification Redistribution Detection Hierarchical Signatures Metadata-based Verification Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 10 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 08 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 13 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 21 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9183859","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":611421583,"identity":"6f82daa8-0c26-49d9-b431-3ac623bc7ee4","order_by":0,"name":"Byeongchan Park","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAu0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQbGBx8qbGDcBKK0MBvOOJNGmhY2ac6WwyRoMZdufmzM2HDeXn5GAuOHHwxp+QS1WM45Zvi4cMftxA03EpglexhyLBsIaTG4kcNsPPPM7QQDiQQGaQaGCgOCtgC1sEnztp0DOYz5NylaDjA23EhgA9qSQ1gL0C/GwEBOTtxw5mGbZY9BGmEtwBB7CIxKO3v59uTDN35UJBPhMASTsQGFS4yWUTAKRsEoGAU4AAB6+ztCN5pI4gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Soongsil University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Byeongchan","middleName":"","lastName":"Park","suffix":""},{"id":611421584,"identity":"934cdc36-5ee5-46b4-adc6-13f8dcb74b31","order_by":1,"name":"Seok-Yoon Kim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Soongsil University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Seok-Yoon","middleName":"","lastName":"Kim","suffix":""},{"id":611421587,"identity":"d2b84a22-2be3-45da-bd26-077953cf7dfe","order_by":2,"name":"Youngmo Kim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Soongsil University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Youngmo","middleName":"","lastName":"Kim","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-21 07:08:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9183859/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9183859/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105565952,"identity":"ff5a7c8f-6d33-426c-b727-f969b291827c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:54:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":681306,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AHierarchicalMultiModalSignaturesforOTTContentIdentificationandRedistributionDetection.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9183859/v1_covered_e9449d54-aee5-47f8-b9db-6fee7e1da6cc.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Hierarchical Multi-Modal Signatures for OTT Content Identification and Redistribution Detection","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"multimedia-systems","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mmsj","sideBox":"Learn more about [Multimedia Systems](http://link.springer.com/journal/530)","snPcode":"530","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/530/3","title":"Multimedia Systems","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"OTT Streaming, Content Identification, Redistribution Detection, Hierarchical Signatures, Metadata-based Verification","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9183859/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9183859/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAs OTT services continue to expand, the distribution paths of premium video content have become increasingly diverse, making it essential to accurately identify and detect redistributed content under various transformations such as re-encoding, subtitle insertion, resolution changes, and aspect-ratio modification. 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