Xchicago

by Jameson Wallace

m4v and similar codecs, provide a technical solution to copyright management by using “re-encode degradation.”

Inside an m4v, any frame can make use of pixel information from any other frame. This means that any change to the file such as removing a small portion, changing the soundtrack or any other modification, requires the file to be re-encoded.

The brilliant thing about these new lines of codecs is that the resulting quality of encoding a file for the first time (from hi-res source) is very high, but any subsequent attempt to re-encode and trans-code deteriorates file quality.

So:
can users download the file to their computer? yes, easily
can they copy the file? yes, as much as they like
can they edit the file? only with significant loss of quality
can they bootleg the file? no

I find that this solution is far superior to FLV or Silverlight for most uses because it allows people to redistribute the original media, resulting in a larger audience, while preventing high-quality piracy.

Watermarking, as an additional precaution, can be legally enforced should it be desired. Especially because any attempt to remove or modify the watermark would require re-encoding.

To be specific, m4v is not a codec. An m4v file mostly uses h264, which is the codec I am specifically talking about. I think m4v also supports mp4, which is part of the same family of codecs (meaning they all use frame-reordering). Both mp4 and h264 have significant quality degradation on re-encode (as do all the flv codecs). The technique they use for motion compression (frame-reordering) makes trans-coding requisite for most purposes.

Sites like YouTube use video scanners that detect the artifacts of re-encoded files. Anything transcoded from an original source will be flagged by such a scanner. The per-generation degradation is not nearly as bad as VHS, but is still significant enough to prevent much use of the file beyond the original.

The idea of these codecs is that people can make low-quality mashups all day long and no one will care about the jpegs popping out, but when you try to run a second-generation file on an HD television, the difference becomes apparent.

This creates a line between professionals and amateur media. Effectively maintaining copyright protection within professional distribution channels, without diminishing the creativity (and rich brand experiences) that come with amateur art & cultural practices.

| Jameson Wallace
| Motion Graphics Festival
| New Motion + New Sound + New Code
| http://MGFest.com