Secure Your Content with Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Digital rights management (DRM) helps prevent unauthorized access to your content. DRM technology starts by encrypting a screener video file. Then, in order to play the file, the video player must request a license from our DRM service and use that license to decrypt the video. All this takes place behind the scenes and does not disrupt the viewing experience. 

Like forensic watermarking, DRM is a feature you can add to any watermark template. Together with visible and forensic watermarking, DRM creates the most secure screening experience available. If you’d like to enable DRM for your Screeners.com account, please contact your customer success manager, or send a message to customersuccess@editshare.com.

• Create a Watermark Template with DRM
• Add DRM to an Existing Watermark Template
• Apply DRM to a Title
• Do I need to re-upload a screener to enable DRM?

Create a Watermark Template with DRM

To secure your content with DRM, you first need a watermark template that is DRM-enabled. This section will show you how to create one. To add DRM to an existing template, please see Add DRM to an Existing Watermark Template.

First, select Watermarks from the menu along the left side of the page. This option is available to Administrators only; Content Managers and Publicists do not have access to the Watermarks section.

Next, add any visible watermarks you want to apply to this template, such as the viewer’s name and email address or your network’s logo. For a step-by-step guide to creating and customizing templates, please see Watermark Templates. When you’re done, click the green Save Template button in the bottom right. 

On the next page, you’ll name your template and enter an optional description. Below the description field are two toggles: one to turn on forensic watermarking and the other for DRM. 

Turn on the Digital Rights Management toggle. 

Lastly, click Create Template in the bottom right. You’re now ready to apply this DRM-enabled watermark template to your titles (See Apply DRM to a Title below). 

Add DRM to an Existing Watermark Template

To secure your content with DRM, you first need a watermark template that is DRM-enabled. This section will show you how to add DRM to an existing template in your account. To create an all-new template, please see Create a Watermark Template with DRM.

First, select Watermarks from the menu along the left side of the page. This option is available to Administrators only; Content Managers and Publicists do not have access to the Watermarks section. Then, click the Show Templates button in the top left.

Select the template you want to update with DRM. Next, you can make changes (if any) to the template’s visible watermarks. (For a step-by-step guide to creating and customizing templates, please see Watermark Templates.) When you’re done, click the green Save Template button in the bottom right. 

On the next page, you’ll find two toggles below the description field: one to turn on forensic watermarking and the other for DRM.

Turn on the Digital Rights Management toggle. 

Lastly, click Update Template in the bottom right. If this template is currently applied to any titles, it’s important to note that DRM streaming will only work for screeners uploaded after DRM technology was introduced to Screeners.com. Older uploads will not support DRM and cannot be played until you either re-upload the screener video file or apply a different watermark template without DRM. To learn more, please see Do I need to re-upload a screener to enable DRM? 

Apply DRM to a Title

Before you can apply DRM to a title, you need a watermark template that includes DRM. To add DRM to a template, please see Create a Watermark Template with DRM or Add DRM to an Existing Watermark Template.

Apply DRM to a New Title

When you add a new title to your Screeners.com account, you’ll choose the watermark template to apply to every screener in this title. In the New Title window, open the dropdown menu under Watermark Template, and look for the columns Forensic and DRM.

Checkmarks indicate if a feature is included in the template. To apply DRM to a new title, you must select a template with a checkmark in the DRM column. 

Icons below the template preview window confirm if the selected template includes forensic watermarking, DRM, or both. 

Apply DRM to an Existing Title

If you’ve already added a title to your Screeners.com account, go to the title page and click the Edit Title button in the top right. 

On the next page, open the dropdown menu under Watermark Template and choose a watermark template that includes DRM. A checkmark in the DRM column indicates that a template includes DRM.

When you’re done, click the Update Title button in the bottom right corner of the window. 

Do I need to re-upload a screener to enable DRM? 

When viewing the list of screeners for a title, you may see an exclamation mark on a screener’s tile.

This icon indicates that DRM is not supported for the screener. In this case, reviewers cannot watch the screener until you re-upload the screener video file or choose a different watermark template that does not include DRM.

This occurs if a file was uploaded before DRM technology was introduced to Screeners.com. DRM technology was introduced to Screeners.com on March 6th, 2024 at 19:00:00 GMT-0500. When a file is uploaded, it is processed behind the scenes in a way that supports DRM. For older uploads, this step has not taken place yet. The file will still support a watermark template that includes visible and forensic watermarking, but it must be re-uploaded if you wish to apply a watermark template with DRM.