Why Use the RepliCheck Anti-Piracy Service?

RepliCheck® is a copyright verification service that helps reduce the risk of replicating pirated CD content. Using Audible Magic’s patented fingerprinting technology and extensive song and software databases, RepliCheck scans a CD and provides the user with a comprehensive report of each copyrighted file on the CD. CD Replicators use this system to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their anti-piracy efforts, and to maintain accountability and concrete documentation.

The Music Industry is Aggressively Prosecuting Copyright Infringement

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is suing CD plants for copyright infringement. Working closely with federal, state, and local officials, the RIAA Anti-Piracy Unit aided in 1,762 arrests and indictments in the first half of 2001, up 89 percent from the previous year. In a suit against Americ Disc by the RIAA, Americ Disc agreed to pay $10 million to the RIAA to settle the case. In another case against Global Arts, the court awarded the RIAA $100,000 per mastered song. Currently, the RIAA is suing Technicolor $150,000 per infringement, or song copied.

Recent litigation has made CD Replicators aware of the importance of anti-piracy measures. A growing number of replication plants are participating in the Anti-Piracy Compliance Program run by the International Recording Media Association (IRMA), and the music industry is looking to the program as a source of vendors. The IRMA web site is www.recordingmedia.org. The president of Americ Disc, Robert Doyon, believes that the anti-piracy measures taken by his company since the litigation have had a positive effect on business. “Our customers can feel secure doing business with us,” he said.

Replicators are Legally Liable for the Content They Reproduce

It is the CD Replicator’s legal responsibility to verify that their customers have valid licenses for all of the files being replicated. If there is a suit for a breach of copyright, the Replicator may be found liable. Under Federal Copyright law, vicarious liability may be imposed when a person has the right or ability to control the activities of the direct infringer and also receives financial benefit from the infringing activities (Title 17 U.S.C). Vicarious liability may be imposed even if the entity is unaware of the infringing activities. For more information, visit the U.S. Copyright’s web site at www.loc.gov/copyright/title17.

The RIAA’s CD Awareness Program outlines a few rules for plant managers: know your customers, demand proof, and verify that your customers have legitimate authority to manufacture and distribute the sound recordings they are asking you to press. The only safe way to verify the content being replicated is to identify each music title on a CD and cross-reference it against a valid license. In order to protect your business in the case of an audit, you need to be able to prove that you have demonstrated reasonable due diligence in your anti-piracy efforts.

RepliCheck Provides Documented Accountability

The RepliCheck system provides concrete information and documentation from a legitimate third party. You will always have an accurate record of your anti-piracy efforts. In the case of an audit, you will be able to prove that you have verified the contents of each file on a CD that has been checked by the RepliCheck system.

Improved Efficiency and Accuracy Will Reduce Costs

By automating the process of identifying audio and software files, you will have faster, more accurate results. The RepliCheck system can identify the contents of a CD in less than 15 minutes. The alternative is to have an employee listen to each song and open each software application to identify it. Since no individual can mentally store as many songs as a database can, the process is time consuming. This person spends much of his time as a researcher, attempting to look up the songs he does not recognize. He may even involve other employees in his search to identify a song. For many CD’s, the time to identify tracks by a human will take significantly longer than 15 minutes. In addition, human audio recognition is subject to higher error rates than computer based audio recognition. RepliCheck boasts a greater than 99% accuracy, and costs significantly less than the costs of hiring, training, and paying an employee.