Facebook Inc. Monday acquired an intellectual property startup called Source3 so it can use the company’s technology to identify pirated content shared on its social network.

The acquisition was revealed by Source3 on its website and first spotted by Recode. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Source3 itself didn’t provide much by way of detail. However, it looks as though Facebook is getting its hands on both Source3’s technology and also its talent.

Facebook is currently on a mission to establish itself as the No. 1 destination for creating and sharing video content, and to do that it needs to ensure content creators can be paid. Last year Facebook hired CollegeHumor cofounder Ricky Van Veen to work on boosting its video efforts. The social media giant has also signed deals with companies like BuzzFeed and Vox in order to use their video clips. The Source3 deals seems to be an effort to ensure it can protect that content against piracy.

Source3 itself explained on its website that it “set out to recognize, organize and analyze branded intellectual property in user-generated content, and we are proud to have identified products across a variety of areas including sports, music, entertainment and fashion.”

The company has developed technology that allows it to recognize intellectual property in both user-created content and also commercial marketplaces, so that brands can get an idea of how piracy effects them, and also take steps to protect themselves from copyright and trademark infringement.

“We’re excited to work with the Source3 team and learn from the expertise they’ve built in intellectual property, trademarks and copyright,” Facebook said in a statement to Recode. Source3 said its team will now commence work at Facebook’s offices in New York.

Most likely Facebook will want to use Source3’s technology to augment its Rights Manager software, which was launched last year. Rights Manager works a bit like YouTube’s Content ID, which enables creators to digitally fingerprint their videos so they can block unauthorized uploads on the platform. The software also allows content creators to collect a share of the revenues from unauthorized copies if they prefer. By integrating Source3 with Rights Manager, it should be a lot easier for brands to identify illegal content so they can decide what to do about it.

A second opportunity might lie in using Source3’s technology to identify brands used or worn by social media stars and then facilitate product placement deals between them.

Image of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: Wired Photostream/Flickr