DVD films - copy to PC - how to do this?

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

We have some films on DVD which we'd like to be able to copy to our PC/laptop so we can watch them on the move without having to carry around the DVDs.

We've copied CDs before and when we put them in the drive it automatically comes up with a box asking whether we want to play or "rip" but when we put a DVD in it doesn't give these options.

Please can anyone guide us on how best to do this and if we need to download special software suggest any that is both safe and not too expensive to download.

Many thanks in advance.

macman

Commercial DVD's are copy protected.

KillerWatt

Are these retail or home movies?

If home movies, you can drag & drop the VOB files straight on to your HDD.

If it's a retail movie, the puritans here will tell you that they cannot recommend software along the lines of >DVD Shrink< or >Handbrake< for ripping DVD's as it defeats the protection employed to stop them being copied which is illegal.

I personally think that talking about something and actually doing it are two completely seperate issues, and that discussing how certain copy protection systems are defeated is in no way illegal whatsoever unless someone decides to act on it.

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

Many thanks for the replies. They are DVD films which we've bought. We thought you were allowed to copy these to PC in the same way as you can if you own a CD and want to copy your CD's to mp3 format so you can store them on PC and not have to lug CDs around with you. Are we not allowed to do a similar thing then for movies providing we have actually bought the DVD film itself?

Many thx.

KillerWatt

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Are we not allowed to do a similar thing then for movies providing we have actually bought the DVD film itself?

I can't remember copyright law "verbatim", but I do believe that the law allows you to make a "backup" copy of what you have purchased.

What the law does not make provision for is defeating the copy protection employed to stop you copying the aforementioned DVD in the first place, so in short you cannot legally make a copy as you would need to break the law to do so.


PS

Whether you choose to follow my links to the software I mentioned earlier and use it is up to you, but as far as I'm concerned.....fill ya boots

jayme1

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Hi,

Many thanks for the replies. They are DVD films which we've bought. We thought you were allowed to copy these to PC in the same way as you can if you own a CD and want to copy your CD's to mp3 format so you can store them on PC and not have to lug CDs around with you. Are we not allowed to do a similar thing then for movies providing we have actually bought the DVD film itself?

Many thx.

technically it is still illegal to make any copy of music CDs or 'rip' them to mp3/aac ect.

personally I would think that for a movie you have bought on DVD you should be able to rip it so you can watch it on your phone/mp3 player while you commute or are on holiday, in exactly the same way as we all do for music now.

Arcaine

I dont see the problem in copying dvd's as long as you own them and are not distributing them after you have done it. Personally I have copied all of mine and now stream them to my Playstation 3 from a NAS box. Cleared about 450 discs to the loft from the living room which has made the wife very happy.

poppy10_2

DVDFab is the best 'all in one' DVD ripper. Very simple to use.

Radnorgirl

poppy10 wrote: »

DVDFab is the best 'all in one' DVD ripper. Very simple to use.

Do you need to download anything else apart from the DVDfab software? I have been trying to do this over the last couple of days with no joy. I can't get the files to play. I admit to being a complete technical idiot.

We wan to make copies of the DVDs onto the hard drive as our children ruin them all!

flashg67

DVDfab is a fully functioning but is time limited unless you buy it at the end of the trial (or re-install it). Insert your disc, click DVD copy,select Main Movie, select 'target' - I use the right hand icon which saves it as an ISO file which retains the full quality. You might find Windows media player won't open these files but if you download 'VLC player' (free - search on google) which will play pretty much anything. This will eat space on your hard drive though - I bought a large external drive to do this and have now consigned my discs to the loft.

Bear in mind though, as others have said, it is technically illegal to copy or rip dvds, even if you own the original disc.

aliEnRIK

DVD DECRYPTOR for free will rip most dvds (no longer supported though so some copy protection will defeat it)