Copy Protection : Software Protection vs Image Protection
The term Copy Protection (also copy prevention) is the process of preventing duplication. However that falls into two (2) categories which are very different, and the processes used to protect them are likewise very different.
1. What is Software Protection?
Most of what we read online about copy protection cites a long history, going back to the evolution of computers. Computer operating systems (OS) and the games that evolved needed to be protected to secure their developer’s investment. Then when motion movies could be viewed on computers, the movie makers also needed to secure their investment by preventing duplication and unauthorised distribution.
Without copy protection, computer software, games and movies, could be shared for anyone to use for free, depriving their creators of any chance to recoup production costs. Movies and games can cost many millions of dollars to produce and distribute, and without copy protection the losses to the industries that create them can be devastating.
It is the losses to those industries that are cited in reports about piracy and copyright infringement leading to billions of dollars in lost revenue annually.
Computer software like Microsoft Windows and other sophisticated solutions like AutoCAD, computer games and feature films in the form of video, fall into the category of SOFTWARE because they are all distributed as executable files, and their copy protection is designed to prevent duplication of their executable file.
To prevent duplication of software, the main techniques used are:
- CD & DVD copy protection – where the storage disk contains hidden sectors for core data that cannot be duplicated by disk copy procedures.
- Keycode Licensing – where a password or license key (keycode) is required to validate the rights of the user to run the file.
- Software Dongle – where an adapter is plugged into a printer port. As a hardware component with a unique signature, they cannot be duplicated.
- Digital Rights Management – where the user is validated by a unique signature or token file that identifies their device and/or account privileges.
These methods have been applied to “software” since the beginning of time and many companies have spent millions in their development. For example, the licensing protection that Windows has always used falls into the category of Digital Rights Management (DRM) which required that all activations be checked against online records to ensure that the license key was not only valid, but that it had not be shared by multiple users. This was one the earliest forms of DRM that used call-to-home validation.
2. What is Image Protection?
While Software Protection is about the copy prevention of executable files, Image Protection is about preventing copy of the file’s content while in view.
Image Protection was not available until ArtistScope developed software for image encryption in 1998. Before then nothing was available to prevent the copy of content while on display. Software known as Secure Image was the first copy protection solution for images displayed on web pages, opening up a new frontier for copy protection. Soon after ArtistScope developed solutions to prevent leeching and bandwidth theft, to prevent images and other media from being displayed on unauthorized websites.
Then to close the door on PrintScreen and screen capture, ArtistScope developed the first Windows API for controlling a computer’s clipboard. Of course copycats tried to imitate capture protection, but they were dependent of maintaining a blocklist of known screen capture software to shut down. Using a blocklist can prevent some screen capture but not all. Nor can it prevent the many other methods used to save, download and scrape web content, which is why ArtistScope solutions for protecting web content have always been beyond comparison.
Copy Protecting Desktop Applications
Beyond preventing duplication of executable files (software protection), preventing the copy of a file’s content while on display requires Image Protection. For that end most operating systems (OS) now provide an API for controlling the clipboard, enabling document readers and video players to prevent the copy and recording when the file is open to reveal its contents.
As a result we now see many new applications for copy protecting all sorts of media while viewed on the desktop.
Copy Protecting Web Content
But copy protecting online content, text and media displayed on web pages, is a totally different ball game because without an API, it is impossible to apply copy protection while using any of the popular web browsers.
The problem with the popular web browsers is that they are intended to please millions of users rather than support the few that own intellectual property - and that is unlikely to change.
Which leaves ArtistScope solutions for web page protection way beyond comparison for a long time to come. The ArtistScope Site Protection System (ASPS) can be installed on all Windows, Linux and Nginx web servers and anyone not having a dedicated server or VPS can still use ASPS indirectly by using one the services below:
- Safeguard Media – is a plugin for WordPress and Moodle web sites that embeds copy protected media into existing web pages.
- Guest Video – is a file hosting services with DRM, copy protection and watermarking options that is available as a WordPress plugin and as standalone web pages (no website required).
The ArtisBrowser is of course available for all operating systems (OS) including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android phones with a Linux version available soon.
Author: William Kent
Date: 13th September 2025
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