Well, it's not necessarily irrational. Say GI/Google strip the data, someone "steals" the image and then the secret GI tracking device finds it and lands them with a big bill for illegal use .... someone in the media industry can afford his yacht on the proceeds.
If, however, the government changes the law and the "infringer" turns round and tells GI's legal department to get knotted because it was an orphan work, then the supply of bolly and cigars for yacht owners could be severely curtailed.
Stripping metadata and using special pic-scout software to bring in the bucks could become unsustainable if this legislation goes through, couldn't it?