CD-duplicating gurus may find themselves getting burned in the near future.

Record companies have noticed a decline in sales this past year, and Universal Records spokesman Bob Bernstein said it’s due to the accessibility of CD burners and free music Internet sites.

“Like the rest of the entertainment industry, Universal Music Group is evaluating emerging technologies to assess their viability in controlling the growing problem of unauthorized copying, duplication and dissemination,” Bernstein said in a written statement.

In response to these barriers, Universal released an album in December with a copy-proof feature.

The soundtrack “More Fast and Furious” contains a sticker that explains the presence of copy protection and that some playback difficulties may persist.

“The integration of copy-protection technology into some of our CDs is a first step in measuring its effectiveness in a quickly evolving marketplace,” Bernstein said.

“When music is made available without permission, the appropriate licenses, artists and other creators are deprived of their livelihoods.”

Universal Music Group and Warner Bros. Records would not comment about how the technology on the CDs works.

Dan Laughlin, a no-preference sophomore, understands why Universal is attempting to protect its albums but doesn’t agree with the approach.

“It’s a lot cheaper for me, the consumer, and I like to make my CD collection as big as possible and as cheap as possible,” Laughlin said.

“There’s still a lot of Internet sites, and people will continue to get 5 million CDs and burn them that way.”

Other students, like social relations sophomore Kalaethia Hawkins, said Universal’s concept is necessary.

“In terms of financial status, they have to do something to keep the money coming in,” she said. “It makes them have less of a profit when you burn them.

“But everyone will find some way to burn them, even if it means giving CDs (without the protection) from one person to the next.”

Bernstein said the piracy of albums is affecting the entire music industry, and unless solutions are found the incentive to create music will be diminished.

Dan Falconer, owner of Lower Level, 611 E. Grand River Ave., is skeptical about the new technology, citing an example involving DVDs.

“They thought DVDs would be copy-proof,” he said. “It sounds good for them, but I’m sure some kid somewhere along the line is going to crack the code.

“I’m sure this (copy-proof technology) will make it tougher for the lay person, but I don’t know how long it will last.”

Bernstein said Universal Music Group is exploring new ways to make music available in formats that appeal to customers, and it hasn’t had enough time to measure the impact of the new technology.

“We have not finalized our plans for 2002, nor have we made a commitment to put copy protection on all of our CD releases,” he said.

Falconer said he isn’t sure if Universal’s concept will work.

“I don’t know what the technology is costing them, and I don’t know if it will increase their sales that much,” Falconer said.