Yes, that is correct, over a hundred years ago efforts in copy protection were well underway as evident by US Patent Number 964,686 issued July 19, 1910 to J.W. Owen for the "Method of Making Sound Recordings and the Matrices for Making Sound Records". An object of the patented methods was to provided a commercial sound record which cannot be easily duplicated or dubbed without impairing or injuring the sound recorded on the record.
Today, in 2010, copy protection efforts are still underway and being improved as new challenges are presented by emerging technology. Anyone that owns an MP3 player is likely aware of Digital Right Management (DRM). DRM is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware
manufacturers, publishers, copyright
holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital
content and devices. The term is used to describe any technology that
inhibits uses of digital content not desired or intended by the content
provider.
As technology continues to advance, as it has from 1910 to 2010, consumers and pirates are surely to face new forms of copy protection.