DVDs

[kulki]

Is it illegal to backup copies of DVDs which I own? And anyone have any s/w that I can use to backup my movies?

 

[Derango]

Technicly, yes. In order to back up your DVDs you need to break the encryption on it. According to the DMCA (grrr....), any attempt to break encryption that is used to prevent copying of a product is punishable by law. The exact penalties elude me right now, but if they catch you doing it, it's not going to be good for you.

 

[Ameesh]

people with big collections tend to buy changers so they dont have to keep handling the dvds

 

[kulki]

how likely is it that I will be found if I were to backup my movies? My understanding is that many people do this. But are people caught all the time?

 

[kulki]

I was looking on the internet to see how to go about backing up movies. But it seems so complicated to backup movies. Isnt there like 1 single program which will backup the movies in Divx format?

 

[nord1899]

Well technically, there are two ways to do it. Not sure on the feasibility as I don't do DVD backups myself.

DVD Copy - This would entail making a bit perfect copy of your DVD to a DVD-R (or some variation there of). This is legal. You are allowed to make one backup copy of all media you own. And since you are making a bit perfect copy, you are not breaking any encryption. This copy would be identical to the original.

Hard drive copy - This would entail "ripping" your DVD to your computers hard drive. This is commonly done in the DIVX format for video and mp3 format for audio. Unfortunately, you lose the 5.1 surround sound when ripping and it reverts to 2 channel stereo. This is illegal as it requires you to break the encryption on the DVD to make the copy. According to the wonderful DMCA in the US, you cannot break encryption that is protecting copyrighted material.

 

[BigJohnKC]

I found one called Easydivx once that took the vobs right from a DVD and created a divx file, but it poorly synched the sound and cut off part of the frame. I think FlaskMPEG will dot he trick, though.

 

[BigJohnKC]

<< Well technically, there are two ways to do it. Not sure on the feasibility as I don't do DVD backups myself.

DVD Copy - This would entail making a bit perfect copy of your DVD to a DVD-R (or some variation there of). This is legal. You are allowed to make one backup copy of all media you own. And since you are making a bit perfect copy, you are not breaking any encryption. This copy would be identical to the original.

Hard drive copy - This would entail "ripping" your DVD to your computers hard drive. This is commonly done in the DIVX format for video and mp3 format for audio. Unfortunately, you lose the 5.1 surround sound when ripping and it reverts to 2 channel stereo. This is illegal as it requires you to break the encryption on the DVD to make the copy. According to the wonderful DMCA in the US, you cannot break encryption that is protecting copyrighted material. >>


Divx supports 5.1 Dolby sound, I do believe. You just have to make sure you have a program that supports it in the ripping of the 5.1 sound.

 

[kulki]

what program supports 5.1 divx coding?

 

[MrBond]

<< DVD Copy - This would entail making a bit perfect copy of your DVD to a DVD-R (or some variation there of). This is legal. You are allowed to make one backup copy of all media you own. And since you are making a bit perfect copy, you are not breaking any encryption. This copy would be identical to the original. >>

This is very difficult, especially with dual layer disks (as most movies are). You could copy a movie, provided it wasn't bigger then 4.7gb (or split onto two sides of a disk), but those are hard to find.

 

[Derango]

<< how likely is it that I will be found if I were to backup my movies? My understanding is that many people do this. But are people caught all the time? >>



You wanted to know if it was legal or not...and I gave you an answer. If you were going to go ahead and do it anyway, why ask the question?

 

[Phoenix15]

I believe Virtual Dub supports 5.1. Take a look at VCDhelp. They have guides for just about anything you want to do with DVD's or Divx. I have heard of a program named dupdvd that is supposed to be very simple to use. Might want to give it a whirl.

P.S I hope you have a lot of free space on your hard drive. I belive that the video files from a dvd are quite large (a few gigs I believe), butit wonm't matter if you are converting to Divx.