Copy Protection

The copy protection of digital media is more or less the prevention of copy, as opposed to Digital Rights Management (DRM) which manages access for the rights to view. Copy protection takes effect while a user is viewing the media which can be in the form of video or documents.

The copy protection applied to software is a totally different concept in that software can be simply copied by duplicating the binary files. Software redsitribution may be governed by licensing in the form of licene keys, hardware dongle or DRM token locking the software for use on a partciculer computer/device. Software licening control is not copy protection.

The copy protection that we refer to here is the duplication of digital media content, be it graphics or text, while the media is on display and being viewed on a user's computer screen.

Copy techniques

The methods and avenues of exploit for attaining a copy of digital media, in part thereof or in whole, are numerous. The list of of exploits is so vast that it is better treated as a separate article for copy techniques.

Copy protection techniques

A web search on copy protection will yield a plethora of results mostly comprised of spam and misinformation. The spam is contributed by copy cats promoting their software as the best for copy protecting media which firstly can't be ethical when they are proposing that one pay for what they themselves have plagiarised and stolen; and secondly, they are preying on naievity by promoting solutions that are ineffective in preventing copy at all. For example most of the copy protect pdf solutions do not actually prevent most copy techniques. Adobe PDF protection has never been more than password protection and even their DRM can be circumvented. Yet the millions spent on advertising tries to tell a different story. Of all of the protect pdf solutions only a couple will actually prevent all methods of copy and exploit.

Another example of how naieve people can put faith in fake copy protection is the use of content protection plugins in WordPress. WordPress lists more than 290,000 different plugins as add-ons for enhancing a website's features. There are many different plugins offered for copy protection and most do the same thing... by disabling the right-click browser menu they claim that web content cannot be saved. Anyone falling for that line has to be most naieve because if anything, all that will do is annoy the visitor without preventing them from using upteen other copy techniques. One such plugin boasts more than 100,000 downloads and claims that number as happy customers, some of which are using a paid version. In reality what that does mean is that 100,000 people may have downloaded the plugin and tried it, but how many soon realised that it was a waste of time?

WordPress only lists plugins that are published as open-source, which means that anyone can download and rework a plugin, renaming as their own. With so many copy protect plugins available that only disable right-click, the plagiarism is most obvious. In fact one can safely assume that more than 90% of all WordPress plugin are ripping off someone else's research and hard work.

Copy protection solutions

While a lot has been published about the failings of copy protection and that it doesn't exist, those authors most likely have borrowed their misinformation or are a miscreant campaigning against intellectual property rights. Also, while there can be a lot of copy protection solutions returned in web searches, some will be for specific scenarios. However most do fall short of what they claim. The solutions listed here do actually prevent all copy and are unique. Considering that copy protection is about the protection of intellectual property, the solutions poffered by copycats, even if they were effective, do not deserve mention here. Those worth mentioning are:

ArtistScope Site Protection System (ASPS)

The ArtistScope Site Protection System (ASPS) undoubtedly provides the most secure website security and copy protection because it is an end for end solution with no weakpoints. ASPS provides a secure tunnel between the server and the user's desktop in which nothing can be copied or extracted. Available for various server types the ASPS server module encrypts web pages for display in the ArtisBrowser, the only secure web browser that can decrypt them and while on display, all page content including text, images, PDF and video is most securely protected from all copy techniques including screenshots and screen recording.

The ArtisBrowser is available for all operating systems (OS) including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android phones.

CopySafe PDF Protection & DRM

The CopySafe PDF Protection software is available as desktop software for encrypting PDF that can be viewed using the CopySafe PDF Reader which decrypts the PDF and displays it while peventing all copy techniques. Copysafe PDF can also be managed by an online portal that manages access rights (DRM), governing who can open a doument and how. CopySafe PDF software is for Windows users and ideal for corporate networks that are running Windows workstations. DRM can add a extra layer of protection and the DRM server software can also be license to keep everything inhouse. The DRM server will accept uploads and encrypt them online without the need of the desktop PDF converter.

Copysafe Video Protection & DRM

The Copysafe Video Protection software is available as desktop software for encrypting video that can be viewed using the CopySafe Video Player which decrypts the video and displays it while peventing all copy techniques. CopySafe Video can be managed by same online portal as CopySafe PDF to manage access rights (DRM) and govern who can view and how. The same DRM server for PDF will also DRM video and it can licensed but for video the original files need to be encrypted on the desktop prior to upload.

OS support

Both Copysafe PDF and CopySafe Video are ideal for Windows users and exspecially ideal for corporate networks using Windows workstations. But if the end users are using other operating systems (OS) like mac, iOS and Android phones, then the following solutions are recommended:

Guest Video provides a web hosting service for pages with file storage for media that includes options for DRM, copy protection and watermarking. Guest Video is a most unique web hosting service in that it is the first and probably the only web hosting service that provides copy protection as an option. All copy techniques are most effectively prevented. Pages can be used as a standalone (no website needed) or they can be emvbededd into existing web pages. The options for embedding include whole pages or just media like image, PDF and video. A WordPress plugin is available and a Moodle version is currently under development.
SafeGuard Media is available as a WordPress plugin for embedding images, PDF and video that are copy protected from all methods of save/copy and exploit. All copy techniques are most effectively prevented. DRM is not a SafeGuard Media option because it is usually used on sites that already have access rights control by membership plugin or user login.
SafeGuard DRM is not copy protection but it can be used for the most secure access rights to pages or collections of pages that make up an online course. pages can be tagged for DRM and the DRM tokens assigned per user. A WooCommerce plugin can be installed to automate the creation of DRM tokens following a successful sale.

Please report any errors or typos here.