Disabling Clear Content for DRM Accounts

This topic explains an account setting that prevents a DRM-enabled account from delivering unprotected (clear) content, what changes when it is enabled, and how to request it.

Introduction

By default, a DRM-enabled account can still deliver unprotected content in some situations: for example when a video has no DRM keys, when a client explicitly asks for unprotected sources, or for features that are built from unencrypted video frames such as preview thumbnails. For most customers this fallback is useful. For customers whose licensing terms require that content is only ever delivered with DRM, Brightcove can enable an account-level setting that removes every unprotected delivery path.

When the setting is enabled, the account never delivers clear content. Requests that can only be satisfied with clear content fail with an HTTP 403 error instead of falling back to an unprotected rendition.

In this topic, clear content means any delivery that is not DRM-encrypted:

  • Unencrypted HLS, DASH, and Smooth Streaming renditions
  • HLS renditions protected only with AES-128 encryption (see Protecting Videos with HLS Encryption)
  • Progressive MP4 renditions
  • Video previews and thumbnail scrubbing tracks, which are generated from unencrypted video frames

Before you enable the setting

The setting is strict by design. Review the following before requesting it:

  • DRM must already be enabled for the account. See Overview: Digital Rights Management (DRM).
  • Every video that must remain playable needs DRM renditions. DRM keys are created when a video is ingested. Videos that were ingested before DRM was enabled on the account, or that were ingested with DRM turned off, have no protected renditions and will stop playing entirely once the setting is on. Retranscode or re-ingest those videos first, or accept that they become unplayable.
  • Devices without a supported DRM cannot play your content. Today a player on a device that supports none of your DRM types may fall back to an unprotected rendition. With the setting enabled, that fallback no longer exists.
  • Some Studio features stop working for the account. See Effects in Video Cloud Studio below.

Brightcove recommends enabling the setting on a test account first and verifying your players and workflows before enabling it on a production account.

What changes when the setting is enabled

Area Behavior with the setting enabled
Playback API and CMS API /videos/{video_id}/sources Only DRM-protected sources are returned. Clear, AES-128, and MP4 sources are removed from the response. If a video has no DRM-protected sources, the request fails with 403 and the error code CLEAR_CONTENT_DISABLED.
CMS API /videos/{video_id}/clear_sources Always fails with 403 and the error code CLEAR_CONTENT_DISABLED.
Video preview (video_preview) and thumbnail scrubbing tracks Not returned. These features are built from unencrypted frames and are treated as clear content.
Streaming manifests for clear or AES-128 renditions Requests fail with 403. This also applies to clear streaming URLs that were issued before the setting was enabled, even if those URLs have not yet expired.
Streaming manifests for DRM renditions (FairPlay, Widevine, PlayReady) Unchanged.
Sidecar captions and subtitles Unchanged. Text tracks are not encrypted by DRM and continue to be delivered alongside protected video.
Roku thumbnail tracks Removed from DRM manifests, because they are generated from unencrypted frames.
Progressive MP4 download Not available. MP4 renditions are unencrypted and are treated as clear content.

API error response

When a request is refused because of this setting, the CMS API returns an HTTP 403 response with the following body:

[
  {
    "error_code": "CLEAR_CONTENT_DISABLED",
    "message": "Clear content is disabled for this account",
    "request_id": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b"
  }
]

If your integration calls the sources or clear_sources endpoints, handle this error code explicitly rather than retrying: the request will not succeed until the video has DRM-protected renditions or the setting is disabled for the account. Also see the CMS API Error Message Reference.

Effects in Video Cloud Studio

Several Studio features preview or process video using unprotected renditions. With the setting enabled, those features are not available for the account:

  • The preview player on the video details page does not play the video.
  • The captions editor cannot play the video while you edit cues. Caption files can still be uploaded and managed.
  • Capturing a poster or thumbnail image from a video frame is not available. Upload poster and thumbnail images instead.
  • Downloading MP4 renditions from Studio is not available.

To review protected content, use a Brightcove Player embed or a device with a supported DRM.

Enabling or disabling the setting

Contact your Customer Success Manager to enable or disable the setting for an account. Include the account ID and, if you are enabling it, confirm that the account is DRM-enabled and that all videos that must remain playable have DRM renditions.

Disabling the setting restores the default behavior. Allow up to 15 minutes for either change to take effect.