LEGALLY import/rip DVD's?

[deadwing]

Is there any LEGAL ways, via LEGAL software, to import/rip my own DVD's for home and personal use?

Any help appreciated!

 

[mckillwashere]

I know of one program which I use personally for back ups of dvds I own and to use via my media server to stream to my xbox. I will ask a mod about this very fast.

Before I bugged John I did a little Google research..
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/mpaa_making_single_backup_copy_dvd_illegal

 

[mickey megabyte]

does 'the law' depend on what country you live in?

 

[mckillwashere]

Mickey, I would look yalls local laws. Here in the beautiful America the and of the UNfree and the brave pencil pushing desk jockeys its sadly not legal ... And given our Forum is in Texas Shawn would be held reliable for what ever information is housed here.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
this is one time where I really would tell the B/S Corporate Lawyers and suits to FOXTROT OSCAR in no uncertain terms.

I have a load of movies LEGALLY paid for on DVD's but I travel a lot so using software like CLONE / REAL DVD to copy an image of the DVD to a nice small portable 1TB external disk IMO is perfectly OK whatever the suits think.

I use Alcohol 52% to mount the ISO I've created and it behaves EXACTLY like the original DVD does.

VLC plays the "Virtual DVD" just as if it's a real DVD --just mount / unmount with Alcohol 52% or whatever "DVD Virtual Drive" software you have.

On a 1 TB usb drive I can get LOADS and LOADS of DVD images as well - not even needing any compression etc. I haven't bothered with BLU RAY stuff yet as these are too restrictive for use and "Bog standard" DVD's play just fine on a 10 inch laptop screen when in a plane / hotel too. My DVD cloning software copies the DVD to an ISO identical to the original whether it's 6 GB or 4GB or whatever.

I've PAID for this stuff so why can't I watch it when travelling -- and with modern storage techniques why shouldn't I be allowed to copy these to USB sticks or external HDD's instead of having to carry around loads of DVD's.

I don't support pirating software but making a copy of a DVD you've PAID FOR IMO is perfectly OK -- I'd just tell the MPAA to really FOXTROT OSCAR on this one.

Provided you aren't selling the content or making it available for "public" viewing then what's wrong.

There's a similar B/S restriction over recording TV programs -- but I haven't seen any Court prosecuting private individuals for making recordings for PRIVATE USE.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[mckillwashere]

But I can say this, if you have any home movies on dvd you would like to back up to your computer bit ripper is a great tool set it up to use the xvid codec and you can back up a full dvd of home videos at around 700-900 mb each

 

[jimbo45]

But I can say this, if you have any home movies on dvd you would like to back up to your computer bit ripper is a great tool set it up to use the xvid codec and you can back up a full dvd of home videos at around 700-900 mb each

Hi there -- that's slightly different from the OP.

Incidentally after I've cloned the DVD's I can of course re-create them (minus Regional encoding and CSS encryption if necessary).

Sometimes you want reasonable backups of the originals - XVID isn't that great if you need to watch on a LARGE LCD TV.

Using a backup method of cloning DVD's your DVD's will play nicely on standard DVD players too and with decent upscaling will be nearly as good as Blu Ray even on LARGE LCD

Of course for DVD's > 4.7 GB you'll need the DVD Authoring software to re-create a PHYSICAL DVD Dual Layer (DVD-9) if you want to fit the movie with all the extras etc on to a single disc.

Clone DVD / Full DVD create ISO's of dual layer discs -- no prob and Alcohol 52% mounts these just like the original DVD -- when you play it you get everything just like the original DVD MINUS the regional encoding and CSS encryption if you want

You can of course leave the DVD regionally locked / encrypted but why on earth would you want to do that anyway.


Cheers
jimbo

 

[mckillwashere]

You dont have to use xvid, its just my person preference... I have my quality turned up so they look a little nicer than the default compression rate...

 

[mickey megabyte]

x264 ftw!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all
"You pays your money and takes your choice".

All I'm saying here that it IS perfectly easy to 100% clone commercial DVD's, copy to an HDD drive and play them from there -- and to re-create the ORIGINAL DVD optionally minus any CSS encryption and regional encoding should you want a physical DVD to play elsewhere.

Now this IS probably illegal but if it's for MY OWN PRIVATE USE with content THAT I'VE PAID FOR as I stated in previous posts you can just tell the Corporate Suits and Lawyers to FOXTROT OSCAR.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[mckillwashere]

Well speak of the devil...
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/88827-give-away-day-35.html#post1208351

I think you will find it useful in Making backups.

 

[pparks1]

Yeah, it's a darn shame. Fair use act in the US says that you are entitled to make a backup copy of something that you own. Digital Millenium Copyright Act makes it illegal to break any encryption on the disc however. So, since commercial DVD's are encrypted and you have to break the encryption to rip them, the DCMA deems it not legal.

Personally, for things you own, I don't see it being a big deal and I highly doubt you would ever get in trouble for doing it. I buy lots of DVD's and BluRay DVD combos for my kids, and 3 and 6 year old's are not the best with handling of the discs...so it's nice to have a backup copy they can scratch and mangle.

My method is not glamorous, but feel free to PM me if you want to know what I use.

 

[spitemonkey]

Well speak of the devil...
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/88827-give-away-day-35.html#post1208351

I think you will find it useful in Making backups.

mckillwashere's post link to DVDFab 8 is the easiest way to make personal copies of most copy protected DVD's. It has a trial download that has a lot of extras, but the continued free version still rips most DVD's. You can also use Handbrake to convert DVD's or media files to MP4 format for streaming. From what I've read there a plenty more programs that do the job more completely with up to the date code cracks, but they cost money!

 

[k33k00]

I've read somewhere on the net that its illegal to break the encryption when ripping a dvd dont know how true that is.
I avoid using tools that dont do it all at once (e.g rip then encode then stick your files back together)
i use AOA DVD ripper i think its called that. Its suppoesedly rips bit for bit and converts at the same time, also speeding things up a bit.

Sorry if this doesnt make sense, a guy at work told me why its legal and thats basically what he said (he is a bit crazy though)

 

[spitemonkey]

DVD copy software

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was signed into law over 10 years ago. From what I’ve read making personal copies of your music and DVD’s is a grey area. There are plenty of professional programs online that you can buy legally that break copy protection on DVD’s. I’ve also seen plenty of “using the cloud” commercials on TV that outright show watching DVD’s remotely on their laptop or iPhone.

Tiptoeing around the outdated copyright laws to use the technology the way it is supposed to be used is an unfair headache for those who want to be on the right side of the law. I’m not trying to spark a debate here--there are plenty of other places for that. The best you can do is read your local laws and do what you think is right.

An interesting article here: Judge rules that DVD copying software is illegal | Technology | guardian.co.uk

 

[pparks1]

I've read somewhere on the net that its illegal to break the encryption when ripping a dvd dont know how true that is.

It's true if you live in the United States. This is the exact issue with copying of DVD's that you own...you have to break the encryption to do it, and that's the part that you aren't supposed to be doing.

At days end, if you are simply making secondary copies of things you actually own...I don't think anybody would ever give you any trouble. If on the other hand, you borrow movies from friends or rent them and make a copy, that's a different story.

 

[seth500]

I've read somewhere on the net that its illegal to break the encryption when ripping a dvd dont know how true that is.

It's true if you live in the United States. This is the exact issue with copying of DVD's that you own...you have to break the encryption to do it, and that's the part that you aren't supposed to be doing.

At days end, if you are simply making secondary copies of things you actually own...I don't think anybody would ever give you any trouble. If on the other hand, you borrow movies from friends or rent them and make a copy, that's a different story.

I feel It's no different than making copies of your windows 7 or any other operating system and usb's for that matter. Things get scratched, worn out, and so forth. As long as it's your own and not stealing it just as stated above.

 

[wolfeking]

Barring the Legality of the whole encoding issue here, I don't see there being a issue with ripping DVD's for your own personal entertainment unless you start selling copies, or showing to masses of people. There are masses of programs out there that do this exact thing, and I do not see them being taken down.
As Seth500 said, its no different from making copies of windows or other copy written materials.

 

[NoN]

maybe some useful info & links here within the US law:
DVD Decrypter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ponmayilal]

"Re: Copying owned-DVDs illegal - US Court Ruling
After going through the many comments on the article in the Dailytech website, this is what I have understood.

One is still allowed to keep a backup copy, as explicitly provided under the "fair use" clause.
That would mean that you could legally keep an ISO image of the disc on your machines.(Presumption: You will not play the DVD ISO from your Hard Disk)
If your DVD gets damaged, you can then burn it on a single layer or Dual layer DVD media as the case may be and use it.

The point is, it has to be on a DVD media that should be played on "authorised" DVD players. In this case, either hardware DVD players or software DVD players.

Ripping,storing and playing such rips in any other fashion or Digital media source will be construed as copying and illegal............."

On 15 Aug 2009, I wrote thus in ThinkDigit forum.

And then one gentleman asked "How do I make an ISO of a copy-protected DVD?"
I had no answer since almost all legal software will refuse to create an ISO image of any copy-protected media.

World over enraged consumers queried " Is MPAA going to crawl and peep into each and every hard disk in all the millions of computers and check for ripped DVDs?"

Not to get into any problems like that faced by Lightning UK on the DVD Decrypter software that ultimately ceased, most of this ripping software now originate from countries like China and Russia where U S and MPAA cannot reach.

All this said,IMO, in so far as residents in U.S.A are concerned, ripping and copying of DVDs to their HDD is illegal. It will still be legal if one can make a one to one copy of any DVD or BD without breaking the encryption for later writing it to DVD or BD, in case the original they bought gets damaged.