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Home: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business:
Encoding DVD's for copyright protection

Tomtoxic
Novice

Oct 20, 2005, 9:19 PM

Post #1 of 5 (1324 views)
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Encoding DVD's for copyright protection	Can't Post

Here's a question for you pros...
I'm just about finished with a 16 min "Airport Ramp Safety" training video, shot with VX1000, edited with Adobe Premiere 6.5, with voice over narration in English and Spanish. Have output to DVD, and plan to sell through direct mail and via my website.
My question is... how does one go about putting some sort of security encoding on the DVD to prohibit duplication?

Am I fooling myself? Can the present-day software rippers just blow through any encoding anyway?

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Tomtoxic

videobear
Veteran

Oct 20, 2005, 11:22 PM

Post #2 of 5 (1320 views)
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Re: [Tomtoxic] Encoding DVD's for copyright protection [In reply to]	Can't Post

No can do, Tom. DVD copy protection requires that you replicate, not duplicate, your DVD. That is, you would output the completed project to a DLT tape, take it to a DVD replicator, and let him cut you a glass master and churn out 1,000 or more discs. Well, it's not QUITE that bad...if you can find someone with one of the original Pioneer DVD burners, the ones that sold for about $4K and could burn DVDs in the "Authoring" format (rather than the "DVD-General" format that our -R and +R discs use), you could then have copy protection.

Copy protection isn't supported by the DVD-General format. Darn it. Mad

Some ways to reduce the losses due to unauthorized copying: Sell them fast. Or sell the master to someone else, and let them worry about piracy. Add value -- in your case, maybe a booklet to go along with the disk. Put a fearsome warning on the disk: "Copy Protected by Nuclear Option Software. Unauthorized copying will cause your computer or DVD player to blow up." Put a plea for honesty on your disk: "Sales of this video help feed my kids. Please don't make unauthorized copies."

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

Tomtoxic
Novice

Oct 21, 2005, 10:28 AM

Post #3 of 5 (1308 views)
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Re: [videobear] Encoding DVD's for copyright protection [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks Doug... I'll take your suggestion and plead for honesty. I'm still somewhat naive in the whole videography business, so I appreciate guidance from more experienced folks like yourself.

I should ask also if you think end users would still want VHS tapes... in spite of their low quality issues?

videobear
Veteran

Oct 21, 2005, 12:28 PM

Post #4 of 5 (1303 views)
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Re: [Tomtoxic] Encoding DVD's for copyright protection [In reply to]	Can't Post

Some want tapes, but the percentage is shrinking fast. Most people have DVD players now, either a set-top box or a drive on their computer.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

KevinShaw
Veteran

Oct 23, 2005, 7:58 PM

Post #5 of 5 (1259 views)
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Re: [Tomtoxic] Encoding DVD's for copyright protection [In reply to]	Can't Post

The other thing you can do is make the packaging as professional as possible, including printing the surface of the disc and making a nice DVD cover. Even that can be scanned and copied, but that's more work which isn't likely to be done for something like this, so if someone wants a nice copy it'll be easier to simply get it from you.