Is there a way in Vegas to prevent people from copying DVD's using Vegas arch dvd? I know there will always be a way around it, but at least making it difficult...

Burned DVDs are not protected. You can set the flags with DVD Architect if you're sending it off to a replicator, though.

Yeah, I was thinking that if I wanted to make some addition income for any 'extral' DVD's that the client might want, I would be able to make it so they couldn't/difficult to be copied. I guess that is a pipe dream...

You can't keep people from ripping desktop-burned copies. No way, no how.
If you make a MASTER (not a DVD 5) DDP or DLT, then you can set flags, assuming your replicator is licensed for CSS, Macro, or other encryption. Only the glass master will pick this up and pass it along. Expensive, but it is a necessary 'deterrent' IMO.

You can't keep people from ripping desktop-burned copies. No way, no how.
If you make a MASTER (not a DVD 5) DDP or DLT, then you can set flags, assuming your replicator is licensed for CSS, Macro, or other encryption. Only the glass master will pick this up and pass it along. Expensive, but it is a necessary 'deterrent' IMO.

Even with the best copy protection, there are always ways to duplicate any DVD out there. I have a female friend who rents DVD's and burns copies of them, and she hasn't run into one that could not be burned yet...even Sony Pictures copy control protection has been beaten.

Too bad because I know I am losing $ to B&G's that make copies, despite not having the custom jewel cases etc.

Even if people are not very computer 'savvy' themselves, there's always someone in the family who has a 12 year old who's 'really good with computers'.

All he (or she?) has to do is Google 'copy a DVD' and the first hit is a program that will copy anything except Sony Arcoss with one click. And it's free.

The most successful solution I've heard so far is the one that shows the first draft with a horrendous watermark, and then takes a one hit order, with a minimum quantity of final discs. Lets face it, that's going to be the quantity that most people are going for, but you never know, there are still some honest folk out there.

It's just that, usually, not all their friends are!!

Easy enough for wedding videos I guess, but not so easy for the ongoing tutorial or documentary type of DVD, where sales are likely to be over an extended period.
Still, at least most of that type of customer only needs one copy each ,and hopefully doesn't start their own blackmarket using your DVD!

All things considered, I can't see it being cost effective to pay for copy protection... if it's failed for the 'big boys', and people really want to copy your masterpiece, then they will. Easily.

I thought as much. The client wanted me to put protection on it and I told him that I thought it would be unnecessary as anyone with a will could crack it.

Yeah, I was thinking that if I wanted to make some addition income for any 'extral' DVD's that the client might want, I would be able to make it so they couldn't/difficult to be copied. I guess that is a pipe dream...

I'm not a big fan of "making" the client follow your rules.

My solution: First, make sure the client understands going into the project that you, as the producer, own the copyright to the finished work. This may mean you need to explain copyright law to the client. This means they may not create their own copies or give the finished product or any part to another vendor for inclusion in another production. If they want to have the option to make their own copies or use the footage as they see fit, they will have to pay additional.

Second, and most importantly, provide duplication services that are fast and fairly priced. None of my clients bother making their own copies because they can't do it as fast or as inexpensively as I can. Just the other day a client asked for 50 copies. The finished disks were on their desk in the morning. It would have been the same day, but they called in the afternoon.

ANYTHING that can be played can be recorded and copied. ANYTHING.