Blu-ray owners to be allowed to copy their discs legally, Managed Copy technology due next year

You may soon be allowed to make hi-def back-ups of your Blu-ray movie collection legally. Within the final specification of the Advanced Access Content System  for Blu-ray, released last week, the format’s much debated Managed Copy facility finally gets the green light. However, don’t expect hardware makers to rush out kit that enables legal dubbing.

A hot topic during Blu-ray’s confrontation with HD DVD, Managed Copy gives BD owners the permissions and technology to make a single hi-def copy of movie discs they buy, typically for placing on a networked movie ‘jukebox,’ or making an HD Digtial Copy for playback on a portable device. Every Managed Copy would require authorization from the AACS centre, ensuring only one dub is ever permitted.

However, the system requires Managed Copy-enabled BD players and enabled software to work. These are not expected to come to market until mid- 2010 at the earliest, provided studios sign-up to the new AACS agreement by the cut-off date of December 4. 
Interestingly, while the provision of Managed Copy is mandated for software by the final AACS agreement, the hardware industry is not obliged to actually make hardware that’s compliant. Some may decide to restrict the facility to higher-end models, others may choose to ignore it completely.