Leak Shield and piracy protection
Video piracy protection for creators.
Four layers, and what each one can really do.
Studios protect releases with encryption, forensic marks, monitoring teams and lawyers. An independent creator selling films or a membership needs the same four layers, sized for one person: control who can watch, mark what they watch, look for copies, and remove them.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
By uncompressed.io · Updated October 2026
Short answer
What is the best video piracy protection for independent creators?
Video piracy protection works in four layers: control who can watch, mark each buyer's copy so a leak points back to them, search for copies on a schedule, and send takedown notices. For an independent creator, uncompressed.io's Leak Shield covers marking, search and takedowns in one add-on. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
- Access control: every viewer is a named buyer
- Per-buyer invisible mark in every copy
- Search of the open web and torrent indexes
- Takedown notices for each copy found
- uncompressed.io does not offer DRM
- Leak Shield: USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year, any paid plan
The layers
Four layers of protection
and what each one is for
Each layer answers a different question. Skipping one leaves a gap the others cannot fill.
1. Access
Who can watch? Sales, rentals and memberships with a sign-in for each buyer, country rules where rights are limited, and downloads only when you choose.
2. Marking
Who made this copy? An invisible mark unique to each buyer, carried in the picture, so a copy found online points back to one account.
3. Search
Where are the copies? A scheduled search of the open web and torrent indexes, with each sighting kept for review.
4. Removal
How do copies come down? A takedown notice to each host, with the details the law requires, and a record of what was sent.
Layer by layer
Who does what
for a creator selling films
Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
In numbers
Leak Shield at a glance
from the add-on itself
USD 99
per month
or USD 1,188 a year, any paid plan
1
marked copy per buyer
each buyer gets their own invisibly marked copy
Weekly
search, first month
after release, then monthly
1 PDF
case file per confirmed leak
sighting, buyer, notice, dates
You stay in charge of every decision. Leak Shield reports a sighting; you look at it and confirm or dismiss it. Only on confirmation is the buyer identified and blocked, their membership cancelled and a takedown notice sent. Nothing happens to a customer on an automatic match alone.
Limits
What no protection can do
said plainly
No protection stops a camera pointed at a screen, and no browser can fully block screen recording. A mark can be weakened by heavy cropping, scaling or recompression. A search covers the open web and torrent indexes, not private chats or closed groups. And a takedown notice removes one copy from one host; a copy elsewhere needs its own notice.
That is why the layers work together. Marking is what makes recording a risk for the buyer; search and takedowns limit how long a copy stays up. If you share unreleased cuts with a few reviewers rather than selling to the public, the Vault plays films in the compatible macOS app with a session watermark, with the same honest limits. For what to ask any vendor, see forensic watermarks for screeners.
When another option is better
Questions
Frequently asked
What is video piracy protection?
Video piracy protection is the set of measures that limits unauthorised copying and sharing of a video and helps remove copies that appear. It usually combines access control, encryption or marking, monitoring for copies, and takedown notices.
What is the best video piracy protection for a small creator?
For an independent creator, the layers that pay off are per-buyer access, an invisible mark in every buyer's copy, a scheduled search for copies and takedown notices. Encryption-based DRM helps against casual downloading but does not identify who leaked, and it adds cost and device limits.
Does uncompressed.io offer DRM?
No. uncompressed.io does not offer DRM. Its protection is Leak Shield: an individually marked copy per buyer, a leak search of the open web and torrent indexes, and takedown notices when you confirm a sighting.
How much does piracy protection cost?
Leak Shield costs USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year on top of any paid plan. Enterprise anti-piracy services usually sell through a sales call, so compare what is included rather than headline prices.
Can piracy protection guarantee my film never leaks?
No. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced. Anyone who can watch a film can record it.
Is piracy protection worth it for free videos?
Usually not. If you earn from reach rather than sales, copies spread your work. Protection matters when people pay to watch, or when an early leak would hurt a release.
Piracy protection sized for one creator.
Leak Shield adds per-buyer marking, 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.W3C Encrypted Media Extensions, Working Draft (dated 7 July 2026, read 12 October 2026)