Editing Copy Control (section)

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[[Image:Copy control logo.png|thumb|right|Copy Control logo]]

'''Copy Control''' was the generic name of a [[copy prevention]] system, used from 2001 until 2006 on several digital audio disc releases by [[EMI Group]] and [[Sony BMG Music Entertainment]] in several regions (Europe, Canada, United States, and Australia). It should not be confused with the CopyControl computer software copy protection system introduced by [[Microcosm Ltd]] in 1989.

Several types of protection existed. While basically intended as a means of copy-protecting [[Compact Disc|compact disc]]s, Copy Control discs cannot properly be referred to as CDs because the system introduces incompatible data, making the discs non-compliant with the [[Red Book (audio CD standard)|Red Book]] standard for audio CDs. The system is intended to prevent [[CD ripper|digital audio extraction]] ("ripping") from the protected discs, and thus limit the [[file sharing]] of ripped music. The techniques used are:

* Multisession ([[Blue Book specification|Blue Book]]) information is included which effectively hides the audio tracks from most [[CD-ROM]] drives;
* [[Cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon coding|Error-correction]] codes for the audio data are corrupted, which may introduce audible errors to ripped copies.
* The data area of the disc usually includes [[Digital rights management|DRM]]-restricted copies of the audio content, for which a player only exists on the dominant PC [[operating system]], [[Microsoft Windows]].

In the Netherlands, the record labels Sony and Universal experimented with copy control until 2004. [[EMI]] kept using it until June 2006, when they dropped it.

In the United States, [[Universal Music Group]] experimented with copy control on a few soundtracks in 2001 and 2002, but abandoned it afterwards; [[Warner Music Group]] has only used it in Europe on such releases as [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]' ''[[Greatest Hits (Red Hot Chili Peppers album)|Greatest Hits]]'' and [[Madonna]]'s ''[[Music (Madonna album)|Music]]''. As of September 2006, [[Cactus Data Shield]], the [[Macrovision]] technology behind Copy Control, is no longer listed as a product on Macrovision's website and has completely been abandoned in countries such as Australia.<ref>[http://www.macrovision.com/ Macrovision - Copy Protection, Software Licensing, and Digital Rights Management<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909201430/http://www.macrovision.com/ |date=2006-09-09 }}</ref>

A December 2006 issue of [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' magazine]] announced that EMI had decided to abandon Copy Control worldwide. Until then, it had been unclear whether EMI had completely abandoned it, as there was no press release.