MediaCopy

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 (1990-2004)
- 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.
Tapes from this duplicator, that say "TMDEP" or "TMDSP" in the printings, had a few additional seconds of black screen (sometimes followed by the fading rainbow) following the static 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

Gallery

West Coast Video Duplicating

The company's logo from the former name
An example of what the dark ink printing looks like from 1991 to 1996.
Same example as picture #1, except the letters read "JLB".
On tapes with a different color cassette, the color and style of the printing varied. This picture shows a white cassette.

MediaCopy, Inc.

The company's logo
An example of what the ink printing looks like from 1996 to 2003.

Locations

Brisbane, California (1987-1995)
Culver City, California (1987-199?) (acquired from Media Home Entertainment)
El Paso, Texas (1998-2004)
Juarez, Chihuahua (1998-2004)
San Leandro, California (1995-2002)