Encrypting a DVD so that others cannot copy

[pelsass]

Okay business men and women,

For those of you, like me, who make movies (such as wedding videos) and you do not want your clients making copies without going through your company, how can we encrypt the videos so that they can still be played on their players, but not easily copied.

Essentially, I am asking to do the OPPOSITE of what most of the rest of the people on this site are asking to do...heheh.

Thanks!

Paul

[tompika]

Forget it...

[donalo]

If the mighty international movie industry can't do it. What makes you think you can?

Besides, I think you're clients are more entitled to the copyright on the discs than you are! and are fully entitled to make copies.

Trying to extort more money from them is a bit rich!

[Kerry56]

I believe you have found a very unsympathetic audience here. My advice is to forget about this idea and accept the concept of fair use. If they buy a dvd from you they can make a copy for backup purposes.

[pelsass]

Yes, I can see how trying to charge for services would seem a "bit rich" to some people. Why, gee, I guess asking for reprints of my photos from Walmart would be ridiculous. How dare they ask me to pay for more of what is my property. Get real, dude!

No sarcasm here...hehe

Paul

[pelsass]

Come on folks, I am not saying that the owner cannot have a "backup copy" (in fact, I provide them with one). What I am saying, is that they CANNOT and SHOULD not make copies to pass out to friends and family without additional expense. It is NO different than having more photos reproduced at your local photo shop. Thanks for your sympathy and help in advance.

Again, no sarcasm here...

Paul

[SARK]

If you don't overcharge your clients and deliver good quality (package and all) why should you worry about it?

[pelsass]

BTW:

The Movie Industry DOES do it all the time. Can it be cracked...well, clearly it can. However, the AVERAGE Joe is not a member of this site. The average Joe would NOT know how to crack it and therefore, the movie industry successfully protects their movies more often than not.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Kerry56]

Cannot and Should not are two entirely different concepts. If you make your disks readable in dvd players they CAN be copied. Period. End of story.

And as dvd recorders become more common and more capable in the size of information they can store, the people who SHOULD not be copying multiple times will increase in numbers. This is a fact. One that you cannot change.

[Tommyknocker]

Okay, PelsAss, I see it this way: I hired you to record my wedding. You said, "Okay, but for x amount of dollars."
I said, "Okay." And you reorded it, and I paid you. What I do from then on really is none of your business.

[pelsass]

Okay, Tommyknockers, let's follow your thought pattern on the exact same situation, but we'll use a fictional (yet real) scenario:

You're a new movie producing company struggling to be profitable. You come out with your best movie yet, one that might make you profitable. I buy a copy, what I do with it now is NONE of your business. So, if I make copies and sell them or distribute them, it's none of your business. Your company wonders why it is not selling more copies of the movie. You see your movie on the streets everywhere, yet for some reason you are not seeing the revenues. You lose your shirt as a company, all because some loser thought it was there right to copy your life's dreams and make as many copies as they wanted. Hmmmmm....seems fair.

If you guys want to make "backup" copies for your personal protection, more power to ya. I could care less. However, if your goal is to do something that you know if your heart is wrong, well, quit trying to defend yourselves. Deal with it.

[pelsass]

This argument of "I want to make a backup copy" is very similar to the one that has been around regarding the right to buy a bong. You know, "Gee, I need a bong to smoke my TOBACCO in". Riiiiggghhhhhttt!

Not fooling anyone.

In regards to the technology increasing to make it easier to copy movies...well, hate to tell you, but the technology works BOTH ways. The technology will continue to increase on both sides and it will NEVER be something that is an easy task for the common Joe. Sorry!

[MOVIEGEEK]

pelsass there's nothing you can do to a DVDR to make it copyproof but you do have some rights as a producer of the production.Even though it's a clients wedding I think you can copyright the production and charge for extra disks,I'm not a fan of this but you do have rights.

I'm not a lawyer and I suggest you seek legal assistance if you are serious.

[Kerry56]

The weak link in the argument that technology will increase the difficulty of ripping dvd's is backwards compatiblity with existing dvd players. If you make it compatible with the millions of dvd players already out in the world, you cannot make the dvd so encrypted that it cannot be copied. If you can find a solution around this, you will make millions of dollars selling it to the movie industry.

But this discussion is getting off-line. If all you want to do is put CSS encryption on your discs, I suggest you go here and buy a license:
http://www.dvdcca.org/css/

[pelsass]

Moviegeek,

Thanks for such a helpful and friendly response. It's ashame when I join a new site that should be full of knowlegeable people who are willing to help others out with a legitimate question, and instead, I get attacked by a bunch of people (not you) who are so defensive of their "rights" to copy copyrighted materials for "backup" that they have to get rude.

Not great for a newbie.

Thanks!

[pelsass]

Kerry,
Thanks for your help. I will add no further sarcasm

[Kerry56]

Was I rude? It was not intended that way.

[Turtle49]

Dude are you staying with this topic just to drive your post count up?
The arguement about the movie company is a joke. You didn't create this movie you went a shot it at there wedding or they gave you the tape to convert AND they paid you to do it.
I don't understand how you and a number of photographers can get off taking a picture of me and then charging me for the print AND THEN telling me I don't have any rights to it!

You need to get over yourself.

Just my two cents.

[Tommyknocker]

I am not talking about a film production where the writers write to make a living, the producers put up front money, the sound engineer goes to college to ply you his skill etc. I am talking about a wedding you were hired to tape, and which you trying to milk a few nore dollars from. You do not own the video, you were hired to create it, and you agreed to.

That is why you gave them the video when you had edited it. Because it did not belong to you. When a wedding photographer (or any photographer for that matter) takes takes wedding photos, they surrender the pictures and the negatives to the wedding party. Because, my dear colleague, it belongs to them. They get the negatives in case they want to make copies. You are in this same line of business, albeit a little more sophisticated. Once you grasp this, you should be okay.

[learner1]

There are different levels of services.

Level 1: Client asks for video-taping of wedding. At the
end of the wedding, a raw tape is given to him.
The client retains copy-right, production right and
distribution right.
Level 2: Client asks for video-taping of wedding and editing
to a DVD. Creative work is used to put together
the DVD. Though the client is the subject of the
DVD, the service provider retains copy-right, production
right and distribution right. The client will be given a
copy-protected DVD at the end of the service.
Level 3: Client asks for video-taping of wedding and editing
to a DVD. He also asks for rights to copy, production
and distribution. At the end of the service, he will be
given a un-protected DVD master.
Obviously, the higher the level, the more expensive is the terms.

[pelsass]

Turtle,

What it is, IS, a SERVICE. This is the USA, in case you were not aware, and how a business charges for its services is the way reality works. The fact of the matter is that you paid me a certain amount of money for a certain amount of service and product. Now you want more product. So, my friend, you pay for it. If you think that is an injustice, then turn on the TV or go out in the world and look around. There are much bigger things to worry about than the fact that you think a company owes you more than what you paid for.

[pelsass]

Learner1,

Excellent, excellent, excellent. Your statements are friendly, professional, and VERY useful. Thanks so much for your input!

[Tommyknocker]

Because he agrees with you?

[pelsass]

Tommy,

No, I liked what he said because it was a friendly, helpful, intelligent response. I tell you what, since you do not like those types of conversations, I will share with you something that a colleague of mine just gave me (ATTENTION: The following is not necessarily the opinion of the author of this post):

"Actually, if they are "fully entitled" to make copies, I wish you'd provide a
legal precedent to this. Could you do that for me, or is that to "rich" of a
request?

Lord of the Rings came out recently. Thank GOD Elijah Wood and Viggio
Mortensen are allowed to copy the Lord of the Rings DVDs and sell them. After
all, they ARE in the movie. I don't know how much "staying power" these two
actors have, so I'm so glad that they are entitled to duplicate the Lord of the
Rings trilogy. Whew! That's a load off.

It's probably a load off your back too, as Elijah and Viggio won't be working
with you at the Wack-N-Go service station in a couple of years. Your job is
safe."

[DTSL06]

bumped....learner1 said it best...

[Tommyknocker]

Had Elijah and company bought the rights from the Tolkien estate, hired the cast and crew, your argument may hold water. But the bride and groom from your video decided to get married. You had no say so in the matter.

The guests were invited, the hall rented, the caterer hired, and of course, a photographer as well. Now, somewhere in the mist of all of this you seem to think what you were paid to make, you own, even after you were paid. Do you think the caterer owned the food he was hired to make for the guest to eat once he was paid. If he still owns the food after the guests have eaten it, how does he get it back?

Keep clutching, you may get enough straws for a broom yet. But in my opinion, you are still over your head on this one.

[pelsass]

DTSL06,

Thanks for your great comments. We do provide the copies for cheap, it's merely a matter of principal at this point. Thanks!

[Tommyknocker]

DTSL06,

Thanks for your great comments. We do provide the copies for cheap, it's merely a matter of principal at this point. Thanks!

So "cheaply", you are looking for ways to defeat copying without your say so. I guess cheap is relative

[johns0]

If the people really like your work and need copies and most people dont know or want to bother with copying these complicated devices im sure they will come back to you for more copies on their own,I do service calls on computer problems and i give customers tips on how to prevent me from coming back but hey they call me back anyways.You dont need to rope them back with copy protection.

[SARK]

@ johns0, been reading my mind have you?