Stock Photos vs Unwatermark.ai: Is It Possible to Get Crisp, Clean Previews for Mockups? - Mid-Day

A startup tool called Unwatermark.ai is quietly testing whether artificial intelligence can strip away the logos and watermarks that stock photo companies have relied on for decades to protect their intellectual property and drive paid subscriptions. The technology, which uses machine learning to generate clean versions of deliberately degraded preview images, poses an existential threat to a multibillion-dollar licensing industry built on scarcity and digital barriers. If the tool proves reliable at scale, it could fundamentally upend how creative professionals access imagery—or trigger a legal reckoning over whether removing copyright protections constitutes infringement.

Mid-Day·Mar 18