Enhancing robustness of digital image watermarks using Contourlet transform

In this paper a simple and robust Contourlet-based image watermarking technique for copyright protection is presented. The main idea is to utilize the flexible representation of images provided by the Contourlet transform in designing a robust watermarking technique. The watermark is embedded into different bands to resist different kinds of signal processing attacks without causing visual artifacts into the host image. The performance of the technique is evaluated. The experimental results and comparisons with other Contourlet-based techniques prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique.