Adding Copy Protection to DVD

Posted on 6/11/2010 1:41:00 AM

All current DVD copyright protection technology can be hacked easily. There is something simple you can do to actually make your DVD un-copyable.

There are all kinds of copy protection method applied to commercial/Hollywood DVDs. Most of them can be hacked easily. If you want to protect your work from illegal copying, you can follow this method.
 
What you need to do is to
   In your NLE, add 10 minutes of blank / black video at the end of the video that you know it will be the last chapter of the DVD.
   Author and burn the DVD as usual
   Use an X-acto knife to make some marks on the outter edge on the DVD where the different shade is visible to you.
In that case, the DVD can still be played fine on computer and DV player. However, when someone try to make a copy with the computer, it will report cylindric error and won't copy the entire disc. If ignoring the error to proceed with the copy process, everything will be copied except the last 1GB file in the Video_TS folder. The copied DVD also won't be playable in DVD players.
 
I have tried this and several people have tried it. It works.
 
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/dvd-authoring/470970-how-can-i-put-copy-protection-dvd-3.html#post1537272
 
A quote from the post,
 

Thanks Taky, I tried this and it works. My sales for an annual event doubled over last year.

 

Comments

Posted by Andrew on 6/11/2010 1:59:00 AM Genius! Thanks.
Posted by Baby Ruth Villarama on 6/11/2010 11:58:00 AM This looks interesting for future use.
Posted by drapeama on 6/11/2010 10:34:00 PM Read this a year ago as a good&cheap solution. Never had the chance to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Quick question, can't a compund could "fix" it, like the kits to restore scratched dvds?
Posted by Tom on 7/7/2010 4:50:00 PM Yep, it works great. Tested it with Shrink and Nero. The geeks and pirates might be able to beat it, but that's not my concern. Doubled my event sales over last year.
Simple to do and the one small cut needs to be only about 1/16 of an inch.

Replied by LA Color Pros Tom, I'm glad you can make practical use of this method to protect your business and increase of sales. Now where's my cut?
 
=)
Posted by Suresh on 8/19/2010 4:22:00 AM Very glad to know the method of adding copy protection to videos. I have pain painstakingly made and extracted several video clips from OLD black and white movies. How shall I protect it from being copied by others? Please tell how to add 10 mts blank to such clips?
Posted by john on 1/29/2011 3:03:00 PM how do i Add 10 minutes of blank / black video at the end of the last chapter.
 
do you mean the end of the file itself?
 
or add 10 minutes of blank after the last chapter, in a new chapter?
 
or add it as a new file (blank video) after the video file to convert?
 
am i putting the cut outter edge of the dvd where there is a different shade to a large chunk of shade ( marking the smaller different shade chunk?) and is this on the outer of the disc or near the centre
 
thanks

Replied by LA Color Pros Whatever DVD authoring program you use, you will know what chapter will be the last chapter. For that clip, add 10 minutes of black video at the end in your NLE.
 
Some DVD authoring program will merge all video clips into each 1GB file. Some will still keeps them as-is in each VOB. file.
 
It's the outer rim that you need to make cuts, not from the inside. You will have to experiment how the cut should be yourself.
Posted by john1 on 1/30/2011 1:18:00 PM Ok, i have tried different authoring programs but
I am yet to find one that is capable of doing this.
Which one can do this
Thanks

Replied by LA Color Pros It's not the authoring program. It's your NLE that you add 10 minutes of blank video on the timeline. Then import the video to the authoring program.
Posted by Cody on 5/17/2011 9:53:00 AM If I have a total of 4 exported video clips that each have a timeline in Encore when I author, how does Encore know when timeline is the "last chapter"? When you do this, are you only using one video file per DVD or are you using multiple like me?

Replied by LA Color Pros In Encore, you have the function to specify "End Action" for each timeline. So Encore will know which one is the last chapter.
Posted by Suresh on 11/16/2011 5:17:00 AM Thank you for suggestions. I am not well versed with terminologies. Please tell me with some explanation what is NLE? (As above"It's not the authoring program. It's your NLE that you add 10 minutes of blank video on the timeline. Then import the video to the authoring program.)

Replied by LA Color Pros NLE is Non-Linear Editing software. It is the video editing program you use such as Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, Final Cut Pro.
 
What you need to do is to add 10 minutes of blank video at the end of video you know it will be the last chapter in the DVD. Then everything is just the same when authoring a DVD.
Posted by suresh on 11/20/2011 2:39:00 AM Why cant we add a blank at the end of movie before burning with a burning software like NERO, and after burning make a mark?

Replied by LA Color Pros Why don't you try it and report back if it works?
Posted by Suresh on 11/23/2011 11:49:00 PM Thanks. But, by this method (NERO) the DVD could not copied. But, from the DVD the movies can be copied to hard disc. Please tell me any DVD editing programe which will be smaller than the ones mentioned above.
Posted by RedRob on 1/19/2013 2:09:00 PM Theoretically, if someone has rendered a 10-minute "blank/black" video as you describe, they could simply add that to their authoring system (e.g. DVD Architect Pro) without linking it to any menus. In essence, an "invisible" bit of content, that could easily be inserted into any authored DVD project.
 
If I understand this "scratch method", that would work, yes? The downside perhaps would be that no other media would be "lost" if a someone chose "skip" in their copying tool. Is that right?
 
I'm thinking that if someone adds 10 minutes of "blank space" to an actual video file people will watch, that'd be a pain in the butt for viewers who won't be returned to the disc menu at the end of their video (and have to manually press "menu")... or am I missing something?

Replied by LA Color Pros RedRob,
 
The 10 minutes black video needs to be appended to the last clip in NLE, not a separate clip linked in the menu in the authoring program. In that case, the DVD authoring program would not generate a separate .VOB file that can be skipped.
 
This method works with most people to prevent them from copying. For those who knows how to use copying tools to skip error sector, they might still be able to make a copy.
 
You add the 10 minutes of blank at the last chapter that shows after everything is done. It shall create minimal annoyance. It's like in the old days after watching a VHS movie, nobody complains they are watching blank screen.
 
I always want to try this circular cutting. Maybe you can try it and report back :)
 
http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-93807097-Circle-Cutter-Replacement/dp/B0006HUJ0S
Posted by RedRob on 1/19/2013 2:58:00 PM I'm going to play with this and write back. I bet that a separate chapter in the authoring program would indeed cause error when copying, but if skipped wouldn't cause too much grief for the pirate since no "real" content would be lost. (e.g. less effective)
 
Scratching a "live .VOB" (e.g. with 10 minutes blank added in the NLE) makes sense then, and I'll bet that in the authoring tool I can move the "end mark" to where it truly ends (before the black video) so it's a complete win (no annoyance!) :-)
 
The circular cutter could make it less scary to scratch the disc LOL.. looks like it might unintentionally scratch other parts of the disc while holding it down (yikes!). If I see it locally I'll check it out in-person and report back :-)

Replied by LA Color Pros Please report back. It would be very helpful. You can buy those circular cutting at Home Depot too. Thanks.
Posted by RedRob on 1/19/2013 3:05:00 PM Most curious -- Just looked it up, and the lead-out IS indeed written at the end from what I can tell.. I wonder why the lead-out isn't messed up from the scratch??
 
If the video only has a single .VOB (e.g. a single individual's performance) and this was done, I think it would effectively also prevent them from uploading it to file sharing sites since the .VOB file wouldn't be fully readable by the PC during the upload.
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