I need to find out who is the owner behind the well-known and easily recognizable “compact disc” and “DVD-ROM” words (done in a very specific type-face) appearing on PC drives as well as CDs and DVDs themselves.
You might say “it is THEY - the (collective) recording industry”, but who are THEY, exactly? The RIAA? People who sued Napster? Again, who are THEY??? Any information would be appreciated…especially a point of contact, email, or snail mail. But, I can always “Google” once I have something to “Google” with!
Philips owns the Redbook Audio standard (the standard under which all CDs and CD-compliant equipment is manufactured) as well as the CD logo that signifies complicance with the standard.
DVD CCA, an industrywide consortium, owns the rights to a bunch of trade-secret technologies including the CSS (Content Scrabling System) encryption scheme, the region-encoding scheme, and related specifications that go into manufacturing all DVDs and DVD-compliant equipment.
Anyone that wishes to use either logo must create standards-compliant technology and receive authorization / license from the relevant body, for a hefty fee.
Depending on why you’re asking, you may be interested to know that Philips has let it’s displeasure be known that some people are creating “copy protected” CDs that don’t conform to Red Book standards. Technically these aren’t Audio CDs, and aren’t qualified to have the “Compact Disc” logo on them. (More info)
OK, what does it mean to the consumer when I see the “CD” logo and the “DVD” logo on a player or driver? And, how can I find out what it means from the perspective of the industry?
It means that any media displaying the CD or DVD logo is guaranteed to work on any peripheral displaying the CD or DVD logo. The whole licensing / certification process is intended to offer consumers a risk-free buying experience.