Leak Shield and piracy protection
Stop video leaks.
Make every copy traceable, then act fast.
No setting stops a determined viewer from copying a film they can watch. What you can do is make copying harder, make every copy point back to the buyer who made it, find the copies quickly and remove them. Done together, that turns a leak from an anonymous loss into a short, documented incident.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
By uncompressed.io · Updated October 2026
Short answer
How do you stop paid videos from being leaked?
You cannot make a watchable video impossible to copy, so the goal is to make leaks rare, traceable and short-lived. Sell through a platform where every buyer has their own access, give each buyer an individually marked copy, search for copies on a schedule and send a takedown notice for each one you find. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
- No method stops a viewer from recording a screen
- Sign-in for every buyer removes anonymous sharing
- A per-buyer invisible mark names the source of a copy
- Scheduled search finds copies on the open web and torrent indexes
- Takedown notices remove copies host by host
- Leak Shield does the last three, USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year
Why videos leak
How paid films get out
and almost never by hacking
Most leaks of paid video are not break-ins. A real buyer or member shares what they paid for, because nothing tells them it can be traced back to them.
Shared logins
One member gives a password to friends or a group chat. The platform sees one account; dozens of people watch.
Downloaded files
A download is a perfect copy. Once it exists, it can be uploaded anywhere, and nothing in a plain file says who bought it.
Screen recordings
Any film that plays on a screen can be recorded by software or by a camera. No browser can fully stop this.
Forwarded links
Unlisted or shared links travel. A link sent to one person can reach thousands without anyone signing in.
Each route needs a different answer. Sign-in and per-buyer access deal with shared links and logins. Turning downloads off for premieres deals with perfect copies. Recording cannot be blocked in a browser, so the answer there is attribution: a mark inside the picture that survives into the recording and points to the buyer.
The defences
What stops what
and what each one does not stop
A mark can be weakened by heavy cropping, recompression or a camera recording. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
The plan
Five steps to fewer leaks
before and after release
Sell with sign-in
Sell purchases, rentals and memberships through your own storefront so every viewer is a named buyer, not a holder of a shared link.
Hold downloads back
Keep downloads off for a premiere window. Offer them later, or only on a higher tier, once the first wave of interest has passed.
Mark every copy
Turn on Leak Shield before release so each buyer gets their own invisibly marked copy.
Watch the web
Leak Shield searches the open web and torrent indexes weekly for the first month after release, then monthly.
Act on sightings
Confirm a sighting and the buyer is identified and blocked, a takedown notice is sent and a PDF case file is kept.
Say it on the sales page
When it happens anyway
What to do after a leak
in the first hour
Close what is still open first: change passwords, set the film to private or pause new sales if you need to. Then record every copy you find with its URL, the date and a screenshot, because each takedown notice must identify the exact material. Under US law, a notice to a host's designated agent must include, among other things, your signature, the work, the location of the copy and a good-faith statement (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3), read 12 October 2026). The full checklist is in what to do if a screener leaked.
Leak Shield covers films sold or streamed to buyers and members through your streaming platform. Ordinary share links and embeds carry no buyer mark. For unreleased cuts shared with a few reviewers, the Vault plays films in the compatible macOS app with a session watermark, under the same limits.
When another approach is better: if your films are free to watch and you earn from reach, leak protection costs more attention than it saves. Spend it on distribution instead.
Questions
Frequently asked
Can you completely stop a video from leaking?
No. Anything a viewer can see and hear can be recorded, at the very least by pointing a camera at the screen. The realistic goal is to reduce how many copies appear, to know who made them, and to get them removed quickly.
What is the most effective way to stop paid video leaks?
A combination: sell through a platform where every buyer signs in, give each buyer an individually marked copy, search for copies on a schedule, and send takedown notices when you find them. The mark is what changes behaviour, because a buyer who knows their copy is traceable has a reason not to share it.
Do passwords stop leaks?
They stop casual viewing by people who were never given access. They do not stop someone who has the password from sharing it or recording the film, and they cannot tell you who shared it.
What happens when Leak Shield finds a leak?
You review each sighting. When you confirm one, the buyer behind that copy is identified and blocked, their membership is cancelled, a takedown notice is sent to the host, and a PDF case file is kept for your records.
Does uncompressed.io use DRM?
No. uncompressed.io does not offer DRM. Leak Shield relies on per-buyer marking, leak search and takedowns instead. The DRM vs forensic watermarking guide explains the difference.
Is Leak Shield available on the free plan?
No. Leak Shield is an add-on for any paid plan, at USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year. It is not available on Starter.
Give every buyer their own traceable copy.
Leak Shield adds a per-buyer invisible mark, a scheduled leak search and takedown notices to any paid plan, for USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
Sources
- 1.US Copyright Office: Section 512 of Title 17 (read 12 October 2026)
- 2.US Code Title 17, Chapter 5, section 512 (copyright.gov) (read 12 October 2026)