Hands-On with Digital Copy

• Jan 25, 2008 07:47 PM ET
• by The DVD Team

Last week, during the MacWorld event, Fox and Apple announced iTunes Digital Copy. The first release to utilize this technology was Family Guy: Digital Harvest, which I received the other day. Many people have questions about how the Digital Copy works, so I'd like to walk you through my experience with it.

The "Blue Harvest" release is a two-disc set, with the second disc devoted to the digital copy. I inserted the DVD-ROM into my Mac laptop and a window popped up with a single icon. Double-clicking the icon launched iTunes, with "Blue Harvest" listed under "Devices." Clicking on the DVD launched the iTunes store and took me to a special "Blue Harvest" page where I entered my 16 digit code. Pressing "Redeem" took me to a new iTunes Store Terms and Conditions screen which I agreed to. A little over 2 minutes later the file had been copied to my computer, with the movie appearing under my "Purchased" tab. The resulting file was 496 megs, 640x480 MPEG-4 (H.264) at 1451 kbps.

I have a bunch of networked computers in my place, and decided I should try playing the digital file on the Mac Mini hooked up to my TV. I opened iTunes on the Mini, connected to my shared iTunes library on the MacBook Pro, and authorized my Mini iTunes to play files associated with my iTunes account. It worked perfectly.

The Fox Digital Copy website says that the file can be copied to one computer, which sent up a big warning sign for me. Will I be able to watch the file on a new computer if I decide to upgrade in the future? I decided to do a test by copying the file from my MacBook Pro to the Mac Mini to see if it works. The computer was already authorized to play the file from my previous network test, and the copied file played instantly once I opened it. The file on the DVD has the same DRM as other iTunes files that you purchase from the iTunes store, so it won't be a problem if you get a new computer and have to move the files to it.

Mac users are only able to copy the file to iTunes, but PC users have the option to transfer it to iTunes, or Windows Media Player, for use with a PlaysForSure device. Fellow DVD Team member Dave Lambert has a PC, and the Family Guy disc, so I had him do a few tests with his setup. Dave had already installed the file on his Archos player using Windows Media Player, so I had him install the iTunes version of the file as well. It worked fine, so now Dave can enjoy "Blue Harvest" on his Archos player, up to 5 computers through iTunes, and a video iPod, if he had one. The Sony PSP and the Microsoft Zune aren't supported devices.

I was impressed with the ease of copying the file to my computer, and the flexibility I was given once it was copied over. A lot of people are worried that they won't be given the ability to make "fair use" of the movies they buy, especially for the HD formats, but Fox has found a safe and secure way to protect their movies while allowing their customers the flexibility to move the content onto home media servers and portable devices. I applaud Fox for this move, and hope we see it rolled out on many of their future releases, and those of other studios. The next Fox title to utilize the Digital Copy feature is Hitman, which appears on DVD and Blu-ray March 11. Yes, even the Blu-ray copy will feature the Digital Copy; it'll be placed on a DVD-ROM along with the BD. - Gord Lacey