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Copy protection refers to protecting digital or analog content from unauthorized copying. In the software industry, this term also refers to methods used to protect software from piracy.
Copy protection uses technology tools to restrict users from copying data from protected digital media. Many publishers also provide copy protection for digital music and films. The music and film industry are ardent supporters of copy protection.
Techopedia Explains Copy Protection
In the software industry, the idea of copy protection has not proved to be a good strategy for stopping software piracy. It is hard to package software so that it is copy-protected from a knowledgeable programmer. Also, if software is copy-protected, it can be hard to make a backup copy of it on other media. This makes copy-protected software unpopular among users.
Authors and artists who release their works only as copy-protected materials have been urged to consider their decisions very carefully. However, many publishers, authors and artists have experienced unauthorized copying. To protect their materials, they have sought copy protection against unsanctioned copying by consumers. Although it is easy for anyone to copy anything with the right amount of creativity and a little technical savvy, copy protection is designed to discourage users through various measures. Developers are employed to come up with these measures to protect artists’ intellectual property.
