Audio Video News

In spite of our guaranteed right to make a personal copy of the CDs and videos we purchase, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Macrovision Corporation announced last week that they have signed a one-year agreement to copy-protect all of Fox's DVDs produced in the US and Canada. Fox will also use the triangular "CP" (copy protection) logo in a substantial number of its trade advertisements to inform video retailers that its DVDs are copy-protected.

"Protecting our film assets in this digital age is a number one priority for Fox," notes Pat Wyatt, president of Fox Consumer Products. "Given the fact that each DVD is, in essence, a digital master of the film, Macrovision's copy protection gives us some peace of mind as we move forward with our digital business plans."

According to Macrovision, their DVD copy-protection system is designed to prevent copying DVD programming on VCRs without impacting the original picture. The company states that such protection is now used on most DVDs being released, and it is the only technology of its kind currently available to protect against copying to VCRs. DVD copy protection was introduced in 1997 and has been used on over 75% of all DVDs produced in the past year---more than 15 million DVDs in total, according to Macrovision.

Fox recently released eight of its titles to the DVD market: Speed, Young Frankenstein, Porky's, Predator, Jingle All the Way, Marked for Death, Home Alone 3, and Hope Floats.