<p><a href="http://www.rovicorp.com" rel="nofollow">Rovi</a>, formerly Macrovision dominates this field. Their products can be expensive, and are far from perfect, so there are a variety of competitors out there, but you have to evaluate them (and Rovi products as well) <em>very</em> carefully.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-24T08:25:12.397Z
2013-02-24T08:25:12.397Z
ObscureRobot
<p>Rovi does try to add an element of security but the simple truth is that once it is being played, there is actually nothing you can do to prevent it being copied. Unless you control everything (including the screen) then an attacker can just wait until the encryption has been removed and copy the output. So this could be in memory, on screen, by intercepting HDMI etc.</p>

<p>This has been discussed at great length on security.stackexchange.com as it is one of the unsolved issues in security.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-25T02:02:41.773Z
yes - you really need to evaluate your situation to ensure that adding a copy protection scheme makes sense. At the end of the day, you are probably just putting money in Rovi's pocket and making life a bit harder for the people that produce your final output. There is also the small issue that music videos are usually intended to promote your band. You might need your head examined if you want to *prevent* people from seeing them!
ObscureRobot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T16:38:33.993Z
HDMI is usually encrypted for this reason.
Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-12T22:25:22.360Z
Securing a computer against its own user is the only way this is possible.  It's only possible with the cooperation of OS vendors, so anything that depends on it will never be portable to Free operating systems.  Your best bet is to push for DRM Helmets for everyone.  http://archive.oreilly.com/1540.html
Peter Cordes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-24T09:55:17.000Z
2013-02-24T09:55:17.000Z
Dr Mayhem
<p>How can I make a video such that the quality degrades if someone tries to record it using cam-studio or similar software? We create music videos which are often subjected to piracy. Although the CDs are encrypted, making it difficult for people to duplicate, anyone can record the videos using camstudio or similar software while playing it on their computer. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-26T21:30:48.983Z
Have you considered making a chain of renders until you get one that really shows degradation and then use the render just before this to publish so that when it is pirated it will be obviously degraded?
filzilla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-03-02T19:12:47.783Z
@filzilla I think you just invented the new Instagram for video...
ObscureRobot
<video><video-quality>
How can I make a video such that the quality degrades if someone tries to record it using screen recording software?
Asutosh Panda
# How can I make a video such that the quality degrades if someone tries to record it using screen recording software?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-02-24)

How can I make a video such that the quality degrades if someone tries to record it using cam-studio or similar software? We create music videos which are often subjected to piracy. Although the CDs are encrypted, making it difficult for people to duplicate, anyone can record the videos using camstudio or similar software while playing it on their computer.

**Tags:** video, video-quality

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Have you considered making a chain of renders until you get one that really shows degradation and then use the render just before this to publish so that when it is pirated it will be obviously degraded?  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I think you just invented the new Instagram for video...  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-02-24. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

Rovi does try to add an element of security but the simple truth is that once it is being played, there is actually nothing you can do to prevent it being copied. Unless you control everything (including the screen) then an attacker can just wait until the encryption has been removed and copy the output. So this could be in memory, on screen, by intercepting HDMI etc.

This has been discussed at great length on security.stackexchange.com as it is one of the unsolved issues in security.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: yes - you really need to evaluate your situation to ensure that adding a copy protection scheme makes sense. At the end of the day, you are probably just putting money in Rovi's pocket and making life a bit harder for the people that produce your final output. There is also the small issue that music videos are usually intended to promote your band. You might need your head examined if you want to *prevent* people from seeing them!  
> **username_4**: HDMI is usually encrypted for this reason.  
> **username_5**: Securing a computer against its own user is the only way this is possible.  It's only possible with the cooperation of OS vendors, so anything that depends on it will never be portable to Free operating systems.  Your best bet is to push for DRM Helmets for everyone.  http://archive.oreilly.com/1540.html  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2013-02-24. Score: 1

[Rovi](http://www.rovicorp.com), formerly Macrovision dominates this field. Their products can be expensive, and are far from perfect, so there are a variety of competitors out there, but you have to evaluate them (and Rovi products as well) *very* carefully.


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