Coded anti-piracy (CAP) is an anti-

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

technology which marks each film print of a

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

with a distinguishing pattern of dots, used as a forensic identifier to identify the source of illegal copies. They are not to be confused with

cue mark A cue mark, also known as a cue dot, a cue blip, a changeover cueThe term "changeover cue" can refer to any cue mark, or it can also refer to the second cue in a pair (the one that actually signals the changeover). or simply a cue is a visual in ...

s, which are black or white circles usually in the upper right-hand corner of the frame. A cue mark is used to signal the projectionist that a particular reel of a film is ending, as most films come to theaters on several reels of celluloid.

CAP code

CAP coding is a multi-dot pattern that is printed in several frames of a film print of a theatrically exhibited motion picture. It is sometimes accompanied by text code printed on the edge of a motion picture print, outside the visible picture area. The dots are arranged in a unique pattern as identification of the particular print of a movie, and are added during manufacture. The marks are not present on the original film negative; they are produced either by physical imprint on the final film print or by digitally postprocessing a digitally distributed film. This enables codes to be customized on a per-copy basis so that they can be used to trace the print to the theaters that played that particular print and to trace any

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

copies however they were made be they telecined, cammed, or

telesync A telesync (TS) is a bootleg recording of a film recorded in a movie theater, often (although not always) filmed using a professional camera on a tripod in the projection booth. The audio of a TS is captured with a direct connection to the sound ...

ed.

Kodak's CAP

The original style of CAP code, developed in 1982 by

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

along with the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

, is a series of very small dots printed in the picture area of a film print. The original instance of CAP developed by Kodak is a technology for

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

ing film prints to trace copies of a print, whether legal or not.

Deluxe's CAP

A newer and more common variation has been developed by

Deluxe Laboratories Deluxe Media Inc., also known simply as Deluxe and formerly Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc., is an American multinational multimedia and entertainment service provisions company owned by Platinum Equity, founded in 1915 by Hungarian-b ...

. It makes use of more visible dots, and was developed to thwart film copying from theatergoers with camcorders, or prints that have been illicitly

telecine Telecine ( or ) is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process. Telecine enables a motion picture, captured originally on f ...

d to

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. Deluxe's version has been given the

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

name of "crap code" by filmgoers. The term "crap code" was coined on a movie projectionists' discussion forum, due to its quite intrusive nature when viewing. These dots are usually placed on bright areas of a film frame, so they can be more easily identified, and are a reddish-brown color.

CineFence

A different marking system is CineFence, introduced by

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

in 2006 and commercially available in 2008. Th
Digital Cinema System Specification
by

Digital Cinema Initiatives Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) is a consortium of major motion picture studios, formed to establish specifications for a common systems architecture for digital cinema systems. The organization was formed in March 2002 by Metro-Goldwyn-Maye ...

mandates forensic marking of digital film;Philips Announces Commercial Availability of CineFence Digital Cinema Forensic Marking for Both Image and Sound
/ref> CineFence is the first marking system that complies with this standard. CineFence claims to be imperceptible to the viewer, but robust to copying and encoding, and encodes 35 bits/5 minutes.CineFence brief specifications

Notes

References

Philips: CineFence

CineFence brief specifications

{{refend Film and video technology Watermarking Copyright infringement