Lossy data stream decoder techniques are described herein. In response to a request for decoded content from a consuming application, a decoder may validate headers and identify portions of the data that are considered pertinent to the request. The decoder then performs lossy extraction to form incomplete data that is provided to the consuming application in response to the request. The full data for the data stream is not exposed to the consuming application or other downstream components. In this way, the consuming application is provided data sufficient to perform requested graphics processing and resource management operations, while at the same time the risk of piracy is mitigated since the consuming application is unable to get a full version of the data in the clear and the data have been validated by the decoder.