rippin DVDs

[Rÿcher]

I have DVDs and I'm going to be getting an iPod Touch next month. I want to be able to rip said DVDs to the device to watch them on the proverbial road.

1 - Is that legal? If not, why not?

2 - If it is legal, how do I go about doing it with copy protection in place?

If it is not legal, iTunes only has very few movies and shows for sale. Where else would one go for a whole season of a TV show or a hard-to-find movie?

It's fortunate that a lot of DVDs nowadays are being released with the so-called digital copy so you can upload the movie to your iPod which is awesome. Do you happen to know or have a list of other movies that have the digital copy on the disk that I can buy or rent to get the copy?

 

[Jadzia]

There are Fair Use Policies out there, which is what you're talking about, but it's not universally granted by all publishers.

Just because you can buy video ipods, and just because everyone has them, and just because your PC come bundled with software to copy video from dvd... it doesn't mean that dvd's suddenly become a legal source of mobile video.

Simply check the the small print along the outer edge of the dvd. If it says "No reproduction of this video without explicit authorization" or equivalent, then the consumer would be breaking the law by ripping it.

 

[Rÿcher]

I guess a similar question would be if it would be okay by the companies if I backed up by DVDs digitally or on to DVD for archival purposes.

 

[Pingfah]

As far as I am aware, in the UK and the US it is illegal to distribute DeCSS software that is designed to unscramble DVD encryption, but it is not illegal to use it, only to distribute copyrighted material.

DeCSS is widely available anyway, it may be illegal but the floodgates are opened on that one and they ain't getting shut again.

 

[Tyberius]

I guess a similar question would be if it would be okay by the companies if I backed up by DVDs digitally or on to DVD for archival purposes.

No. The companies want you to buy at least one full copy of the most expensive version of the media every time you want to watch it. They would also like you to send them money every time you think about their intellectual property. The distributor of the media is not a reliable source of information regarding your rights to use the media as your use will likely always be at odds with their business model.

For a real answer, you need to consult with an attorney that is knowledgeable in IP law in your locality.

 

[Jadzia]

I guess a similar question would be if it would be okay by the companies if I backed up by DVDs digitally or on to DVD for archival purposes.

If you think you could present a compelling argument to a court, of the distinction between a 'backup' and a 'duplicate', then I'd be impressed.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I'm of the opinion that, if I bought it, I can do what I want with it for my own use. Never had any intention of selling anything I ripped, so I'm not taking anything away from the companies. Everything I buy is on legitimate DVDs and I buy quite a lot.
That said, I use Magic DVD Ripper to convert my stuff into .wmv format so I can watch it on my home computer and also at work (occasionally ). It does a lot of other formats, most of which I can't remember right now (I know it does MP4 for IPod). I'm sure their website would list them all.
I've also used Magic DVD Copier to make a few copies for my brother, and the way it works has, so far, avoided any problems with any copy protection that exists on the DVDs I have copied.
These apps cost $50 for both, but I feel they have been well worth the money. You can use PayPal via their website too.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

Isn't the point of the Proof of Purchase that you can back up your DVDs? Each DVD has that paper insert (lists the chapters) with a tiny corner that you can cut out that says "Proof of Purchase." Cut that and keep it with the backup disc (every DVD can supposedly have 1 backup) and you should be safe legally

 

[Kadratis]

In my book, it's legal as long as it's for personal and private use only. Of course, there are the people who break those rules, and spoil it for the rest of us. I've found that the program Magic DVD Ripper does a decent job at ripping DVD's in quite a few output formats.

 

[Jadzia]

In my book, it's legal as long as it's for personal and private use only. Of course, there are the people who break those rules, and spoil it for the rest of us. I've found that the program Magic DVD Ripper does a decent job at ripping DVD's in quite a few output formats.

Here's some legislation on digital stuff:
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf


Here's the standard copyrights act:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright,_Designs_and_Patents_Act_1988#Miscellaneous

Fair dealing is explicitly permitted on copyrighted material.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_dealing#Fair_dealing_in_the_United_Kingdom

Fair dealing permits individuals to make a single copy of a "reasonable proportion" of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works for "research and private study" and "criticism, review and news reporting" under the terms of "fair dealing". The extent of "reasonable proportion" is not defined in the act.

 

[TerriO]

There are some DVDs these days that have legal digital copy function for iPods. I would say you're walking into a very gray area if you're not using DVDs with that function.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Does anyone know why CDs are okay for ripping, but DVDs are not? Is it not the same principle? Or is not legal to rip CDs and Apple is constantly breaking the law with Ipods? (Which doesn't seem reasonable.)

It just doesn't make sense to me why it's (apparently) ok for me to make a digital copy of my music cd that I just bought but no okay to do the same thing with a DVD.

 

[TerriO]

My guess? Screen Actors Guild has nastier lawyers.

There are a lot more issues that have to be dealt with on the DVD end of things than on a CD. Adding the visual media adds a tremendous amount of red tape to the process.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Well you're probably right about the lawyers thing. But it just seems so ridiculous to me. Think about this, you can buy a DVD and watch countless times at home on your TV. As much as you want. You can put it in your laptop and take it with you and watch on a plane (or wherever) as much as you want. But if you decide, hey I don't want to mess with the laptop, I'll just put it on my Ipod, then that's suddenly illegal. That's assinine.

People who know me would probably find this next part amusing as I'm real "law and order", "follow the rules" kind of guy. But if I had the software and the technical know how, I wouldn't obey this law for one second. I feel absolutely no moral qualms about taking a movie I BOUGHT and converting for my own personal use on my Ipod. There is absolutely no difference between doing that and instead lugging around a portable DVD player to watch the DVD. None whatsoever.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

People who know me would probably find this next part amusing as I'm real "law and order", "follow the rules" kind of guy. But if I had the software and the technical know how, I wouldn't obey this law for one second. I feel absolutely no moral qualms about taking a movie I BOUGHT and converting for my own personal use on my Ipod. There is absolutely no difference between doing that and instead lugging around a portable DVD player to watch the DVD. None whatsoever.

You sound like me a little. It's the the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.

 

[Silversmok3]

As I recall MPAA tried to drag someone into court for having backups of his DVD's in his own home .

Their case was that his copies were illegal duplications of their copyrighted motion pictures.Since the organization couldn't prove he was distributing or using the copies foir anything besides personal use ,the judge ruled against them.

As this is applied to iPods,it isn't illegal to take your paid for DVDs and convert them to MP4 for your use.You can copy your movie 802,116,999 times if you feel like it.

What IS illegal is giving the converted MP4 or iPod containing said DVD conversion to someone else without the copyright holder's permission.

I've been ripping DVD's since '05,back when all itunes sold was music lol.If you wanted a movie on your iPod back then you HAD to rip it.

 

[Kadratis]

^ My sentiments exactly.

 

[MilitaryCoo]

The UK copyright laws don't give any provision for media changes (ripping CDs to mp3, DVDs to watch on ipod) under fair use.

You'll probably be OK as long as you aren't distributing though.

 

[gh4chiefs]

People who know me would probably find this next part amusing as I'm real "law and order", "follow the rules" kind of guy. But if I had the software and the technical know how, I wouldn't obey this law for one second. I feel absolutely no moral qualms about taking a movie I BOUGHT and converting for my own personal use on my Ipod. There is absolutely no difference between doing that and instead lugging around a portable DVD player to watch the DVD. None whatsoever.

You sound like me a little. It's the the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.

Yeah I guess that's it. I don't have to agree with a law to abide by it, the law is the law, and as George Constanza says "We're living in a society here." But if it's just blantantly ridiculously stupid like this, then I have qualms about ignoring it.

As this is applied to iPods,it isn't illegal to take your paid for DVDs and convert them to MP4 for your use.You can copy your movie 802,116,999 times if you feel like it.

Hmm, so now you're telling me it's not illegal to do that? Now I'm confused because I'm sure other people have said the opposite. Do you have a DVD ripping software program you recommend? I would really like to be able to put my backload of DVDs on my Ipod Touch.

What IS illegal is giving the converted MP4 or iPod containing said DVD conversion to someone else without the copyright holder's permission.

Now see, THAT I understand and wholeheartedly agree with. The artists, actors, studios, ect. are entitled to compensation for their work. That's the way it should be.

 

[Jadzia]

Here's an interesting one: What about recording films off the television?

Commercial satellite companies (Sky in UK) provide hardware to do exactly this. You can instruct the recorder to record an entire series of episodes of a program straight to hard disk, like an entire season of star trek, say. It's advertised for sale with that intention in mind.

Is that lawful or not?

The result is a full copy of the copyrighted work on the hard disk, that you can watch as many times as you please, and need never delete, so you have it potentially for life.

Is that really any different to ripping a dvd on to your computer hard disk? And from a legal point of view, is something stored on a hard disk any different to something stored on a dvd-r?