MediaCopy, Inc.

History
The company's origins date back to 1987 when Media Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of Heron International, spun-off its video duplication arm. As part of the spin-off, Media Home Entertainment had a multi-year duplication contract with this company.

Former names

 * West Coast Video Duplicating (1987-1996)

List of Customers

 * Anime Village
 * Central Park Media
 * Columbia House Video (1987-2002)
 * HIT Entertainment (2001-2002) (Bob the Builder and Kipper tapes)
 * Lyrick Studios (1993-1995, 2001) (in 2001, only for Bob the Builder and Kipper tapes)
 * Live Entertainment (some copies of Paula Abdul: Get Up and Dance and The Substitute)
 * MCA Music Video
 * MGM Home Entertainment (1990-2005)
 * Orion Home Video (1987-1998)
 * Fries Home Video (1987-1989)
 * MPI Home Video (1991-????)
 * Pacific Arts Video
 * Pioneer Entertainment (1994-2000)
 * PolyGram Video
 * Prism Entertainment
 * Shapiro Glickenhaus Entertainment
 * Simon Marketing (1991-1992) (The Berenstain Bears and The Star Wars Trilogy Animated Collection tapes)
 * SyberVision
 * Video Treasures (1994)
 * Strand Home Video (1992-1994)
 * Media Home Entertainment (1987-1993)
 * Vidmark Entertainment
 * Viz Video
 * Warner Home Video (some copies of Batman and Batman Returns)
 * Turner Home Entertainment (1987-1997)
 * Hanna-Barbera Home Video (1992)
 * New Line Home Video (1991-1997)
 * Nelson Entertainment (1987-1991)

How to Tell

 * By around 1989, VHS tapes duplicated by West Coast Video Duplicating (later MediaCopy, Inc.) have visible ink information on the bottom middle side of the tape that is printed in a couple of different colors, but sometimes the color of the printings is invisible, like dark purple, for example.
 * The information on the tape includes the print date and time on the right. Next to the print date and time are letters that say "WCV" (1989-1991), "WCVD" (1991-1996) or MCI (post-1996). On tapes with a different color cassette, the color and style of the printing varied.
 * For example, if the print date/time is numbered "020795 1358", then that means the specific VHS tape was printed on February 7, 1995 at 1:58 PM.
 * On tapes distributed in Canada by Orion Home Video through J.L. Bowerbank & Associates, the letters would say "JLB".
 * On tapes distributed by Fries Home Video prior to 1989, the front tape label would say "WCV" (1988-1989) or "WCVD" (1989) on the bottom right.
 * In addition, tapes duplicated at this company also have two different length codes on the left of the information: on pre-1996 tapes, the nominal length is above the record tab (usually broken off), while on post-1996 tapes, it is on the bottom label portion with a side label digit on the middle.
 * After 1996, tapes duplicated at MediaCopy, Inc. would have an engraving on the left side that indicates the company that distributed it.
 * EP/SLP tapes from this duplicator usually lack hi-fi sound.
 * Some EP/SLP tapes from this duplicator had a few additional seconds of black screen after the blank space at the very end.

Known abbreviation letter codes

 * 131 - tapes sold through Columbia House Video
 * MGM/UA - pre-1999 tapes released under the MGM/UA Home Video label
 * MGM - post-1999 tapes released under the MGM Home Entertainment label
 * WHV - 1997 tapes released under the respective subsidiaries of Warner Home Video

Known lot number prefix codes

 * WCVD - tapes printed between 1990 and 1996
 * MCI - tapes printed between 1996 and 2001
 * INFO - tapes printed after 2001
 * JLB - tapes released by J.L. Bowerbank & Associates in Canada

Locations

 * Brisbane, California (1987-????)
 * San Leandro, California (1995-????)