Digital watermarking copy protection scheme.............
If the proposal is adopted, then everyone pays another license fee to Macrovision.
Macrovision and Digimarc Introduce New DVD Digital Copyright Protection Solution
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and PORTLAND, Ore.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)-- Sept. 3, 1997--Macrovision Corporation
(NASDAQ:MVSN), the leader in video copyright protection, and Digimarc Corporation, the leader in digital watermarking,
announced today their joint plan for addressing the digital copyright issues associated with the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
platform and other digital distribution media.
DVD is a new format introduced in early 1997 that offers unrivaled multi-media content quality, including full length feature
films and interactive educational entertainment. Hollywood movie studios and other rights owners recognize the need to use
digital watermarking in this new medium to identify their copyrighted material and to prevent unauthorized recording and
playback. Digimarc and Macrovision have agreed to jointly develop a solution for digital-to-digital copyright protection that
addresses this issue and leverages the strengths of both companies.
Digimarc and Macrovision are submitting their digital media copyright protection solution in response to a call for proposals
from the Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG), an ad hoc industry group comprised of Hollywood studios,
consumer electronics manufacturers, PC hardware and software companies, and suppliers to these groups. This jointly
developed technology will have the capability to protect Hollywood movies and other video content from indiscriminate
copying on future digital recording devices.
Macrovision and Digimarc plan to license the technology to video rights owners worldwide and plan to work cooperatively
with consumer electronics manufacturers, PC platform companies, and their suppliers to implement the decoder technology
which will make digital-to-digital copy protection a reality.
Digital watermarks embedded in movies and other video material act as an invisible identity providing basic copyright
identification information as well as various rules to either allow or disallow playback, viewing, and copying onto another digital
recorder. The new technology will be based upon Macrovision's patented play control technology and Digimarc's patented
watermarking technology, which is very robust and can survive numerous transformations (e.g., from digital to analog and
back to digital, or from one video format to another). The digital watermarks are designed to be imperceptible to the viewer,
but can be read easily by special purpose decoders that can be built into software or silicon chipsets.
The watermarking technology adds a new dimension to the DVD hardware CSS (content scrambling system) and
Macrovison's APS (analog copy protection system), which have been selected as the copyright control technologies of choice
for the DVD players that have recently been introduced in the U.S. and Japan, and announced in Europe. The new
Macrovision/Digimarc technology will strengthen these existing copyright control systems by providing play control and record
control capability which will be essential when recordable DVD and other digital recording devices are introduced into the
market. The combined technologies offer a complete copy protection solution for digital programming, whether distributed on
physical media such as DVDs or DVCs or transmitted electronically via cable, satellite or the Internet.
"We are pleased to be able to team with Digimarc on this project. Our arrangement takes advantage of the collective skills and
expertise of each company and enables us to deliver a comprehensive digital watermarking solution for video," said John
Ryan, Macrovision's Chairman and CEO. "Our solution utilizes Macrovision's extensive experience working with the
Hollywood studios, independent video producers, consumer electronics and PC manufacturers, and semiconductor
companies."
"Digimarc's digital watermarking technology is a natural for still images, video, and audio," added J. Scott Carr, Digimarc's
Director of Marketing. "With our growing dominance in the digital still image market, this initial application of our technology to
video represents one of many opportunities we see in this medium. We're excited about working with Macrovision for this
important application."
Macrovision is best known for its copy protection technologies that are used by Hollywood studios and other rights owners
worldwide to deter unauthorized VCR copying of prerecorded videocassettes and DVDs (digital versatile discs), and digital
cable/satellite PPV programs. Digimarc's patented digital watermarking technology is the worldwide standard for copyright
communication and rights management of still images.
About Digimarc Corporation
Digimarc Corporation is a digital watermark product and technology company founded in 1995 and headquartered in
Portland, Oregon. The company has become the worldwide leader in information embedding, enabling image identification,
copyright protection and facilitating electronic commerce. Digimarc's family of products include: PictureMarc(TM) digital
watermarking software; MarcCentre(TM) online locator service; MarcSpider(TM), the first service that searches the Web for
digitally watermarked images; and BatchMarc Pro(TM), batch watermarking software. For more information about Digimarc
and its products, contact Digimarc at 800/DIGIMARC (344-4627) or from outside the U.S. at +1-503-223-0118,
info@digimarc.com or visit the Digimarc Web site at www.digimarc.com .
About Macrovision
Macrovision Corporation develops and markets technologies to protect the interests of content providers in the distribution of
video and audio programming. The company offers products and services for the home video, pay-per-view, cable, satellite,
theatrical and corporate communications markets. Macrovision has subsidiaries in London and Tokyo, with headquarters in
Sunnyvale, California. For more information about Macrovision and its products, contact Macrovision at +1-408-743-8600,
or visit the Macrovision Web site at www.macrovision.com .
All statements contained herein, as well as oral statements that may be made by Macrovision or Digimarc, or by officers,
directors or employees of Macrovision or Digimarc acting on the their behalf, that are not statements of historical fact,
constitute "forward-looking statements" and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual
results of Macrovision or Digimarc to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. For Macrovision, such risks and uncertainties are outlined in Macrovision's
Registration statement on Form SB2 and in its reports on Form 10QSB. Neither Macrovision nor Digimarc are obligated to
revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this
release.
Note to Editors: Macrovision is a registered trademark of Macrovision Corporation Digimarc is a registered trademark of
Digimarc Corporation PictureMarc, Batchmarc Pro, MarcSpider, and MarcCentre are trademarks of Digimarc Corporation.
CONTACT: Macrovision Corporation
Mark Belinsky or John Ryan, 408/743-8600
mbelinsky@macrovision.com or jryan@macrovision.com
or
Digimarc Corporation
Scott Carr, 503/223-0118
jsc@digimarc.com |
