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copy protection

American

noun

Computers.

a routine that is included in a program by its publisher to prevent the software from being duplicated except for a single backup copy.

Other Word Forms

copy-protected adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There was always the possibility of surprise — a mislabeled tape or a prankster foiling the copy protection tab and adding a weird home movie at the end of “Sleepless in Seattle.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2017

GOG, which lets users download games without copy protection, is in a somewhat more vulnerable position.

From The Verge • Jun. 2, 2015

It’s more like the Kaleidescape movie server, in that it’s a hard drive with a lot of copy protection.

From Forbes • Oct. 4, 2013

My peers seem to feel similarly—the volume of peer-reviewed research on copy protection technologies fell off about this time and has not recovered.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2013

They will often do it as much to show that they are smarter than the developper who designed the copy protection scheme than to actually copy the program.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023