Can you legally rip your BR and Dvd discs to a hard drive to watch...

[Moontrash]

With a media player? (Thread title was too long ..)

basically...can you rip these discs to your hdd and watch em with a medial player like a wdtv or another brand/type of hardware based media player?

[jman98]

Can you LEGALLY do this? Hollywood has said no. However this specific point has not been challenged in court because Hollywood does not wish to risk a legal precedent being set that makes it OK. We haven't heard of anyone being prosecuted in the USA for ripping any discs they own but technically speaking the DMCA would seem to make the practice illegal. Again, the courts haven't ruled and it's a decent guess that if anyone was sued for ripping their own purchased discs that a court might rule on it being legal.

You can rip DVDs and play them with various hardware devices like the WDTV. However, BD playing is a whole other ballgame. The WDTV does not really support playing BD format although you can manually load the M2TS file(s) and they may play OK. The WDTV, at least in past models, could play DVD ISOs but they were not full featured. You could only play the main movie and there was no way to access the menus on the rip. If you intend to rip a lot and play, maybe someone can suggest a more suitable player for the task.

[Moontrash]

The WD TV was just an example...any compatible player that could do both for example. I always wondered if someone did and had his hdd with him somehwere and they were pulled over driving or in their home searched for whatever reason and the authoriteies looked on a hdd and saw these ripped files...what would be done about it? I thought about this the other day when I was looking online at the myriad of Hardware based media players and thought.."these movie companies have to know that this is what these players are for."... I've never actually heard of any case of this but wondered..what would happen? hmmm

[yoda313]

were pulled over driving or in their home searched for whatever reason and the authoriteies looked on a hdd and saw these ripped files...what would be done about it?

I'd sue for unlawful search and seizure or whatever the proper lingo is for that kind of intrusion.

Besides they'd have to have a warrant or reasonable suspicion of something else to invade your privacy like that. Edit - oh and they'd have to be able to read the harddrive - I guess cop cars do have laptops in them but would they go in and take your harddrive and plug it into to browse it? What if its a powered drive that needs a home power plug?

Besides how do they know this isn't all your personal photos and home videos? You can use these devices to show all your home pictures and home movies. Just because it can play a ripped dvd doesn't mean that is all it is used for.

[Hoser Rob]

The police see a ton of motorists every day with laptops and mobiles in their cars. They're not going to search your drive, search and seizure issues notwithstanding, unless they suspect you have something on there much worse than a rip of your Smurfs DVD. They have serious criminals to deal with.

Otherwise, what jman said. They don't want to take it to court because ripping your own discs, which you paid for and legally own, to a computer could quite easily be construed as fair use.

Jeez, if you own a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone Apple thinks you have to buy 3 copies of a video, one for each.

[Moontrash]

if you own a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone Apple thinks you have to buy 3 copies of a video, one for each.

this is a good point. This is why I don't understand why they don't say yes or no either way on if it's allowed. Do they actually expect everyone to buy many versions to fit each format? I wonder if they get a cut of these media players just for this kind of scenario.

[Cornucopia]

Yes they do expect that. They want to milk EVERY penny out of consumers that they can.

AFA the original question:
TECHNICALLY, you can do all this.
LEGALLY, the guys who influence the guys who make the laws say you can't do ANY of this.
MORALLY & PRACTICALLY, it probably should be somewhere in between.

Scott

[jman98]

Moontrash - After reading your various posts today, I'm personally marking you down as "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" and I'm just going to pass on responding to your threads from now on unless I become convinced you've got a firmer grip on sanity. I think you're just another anti-government nut job. Really, there's no place here for your increasingly thinly disguised political questions that pretend to be sincere requests for help.

[nic2k4]

Actually, there's a perfectly legal option; buy the bluray with digital copy included. This is also the only way the movie industry has found to maintain total control over the distribution and revenu stream of digital movies. Their worst fear is allowing anyone outside their circle to make money off their products. They do have an agreement with Apple, but they're less than thrilled about it, as Apple has a stronger bargaining position than theirs.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I actually agree with most of what Moontrash writes, if the studios had their way you would have to pay every time you watch their content(PPV). As for the OP's question, technically it's illegal in the US due to DMCA but law enforcement has better things to do than bust Joe Six-pack for ripping his or her collection. As for monetization by third party providers(Apple, Amazon, Vudu, etc) their cut is usually 30%.

[Moontrash]

Moontrash - After reading your various posts today, I'm personally marking you down as "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" and I'm just going to pass on responding to your threads from now on unless I become convinced you've got a firmer grip on sanity. I think you're just another anti-government nut job. Really, there's no place here for your increasingly thinly disguised political questions that pretend to be sincere requests for help.

huh? Wow did you misunderstand everything I asked. I assure you, I'm not any of the kind lol. They were just questions I've always wanted answers to. I guess I won't be able to ask anymore in here for fear of being labeled a nut. Oh well, can't win em all

[yoda313]

I was just remembering all the fbi warnings on the dvds and blurays as they pop up. The one I like the most was the newer one:

infringement without monetary gain.

Thats their way to say copying even for home use is against the law.

However as everyone has said actually prosecuting this would be extremely unlikely - time consuming and fruitless.

Frankly I think hollywood is more afraid of joe jr or jane jr downloading THE AVENGERS than they are of joe sr or jane sr ripping their purchased copy of THOR or IRON MAN. The whole RIAA stuff ever since NAPSTER is what they are more worried about - trying to stop downloading music and videos is what I'm referring to here

[usually_quiet]

Prosecuting individuals for simply ripping their own collection would be difficult. It is hard to go after someone without any evidence of wrongdoing. How would the entertainment industry even know it was going on, unless copies were distributed to others? However, the entertainment industry has taken legal action to stop ripping software from being published. Otherwise, commercial ripping software would be readily available from companies outside China.

[jagabo]

Can you LEGALLY do this? Hollywood has said no. However this specific point has not been challenged in court because Hollywood does not wish to risk a legal precedent being set that makes it OK. We haven't heard of anyone being prosecuted in the USA for ripping any discs they own but technically speaking the DMCA would seem to make the practice illegal. Again, the courts haven't ruled and it's a decent guess that if anyone was sued for ripping their own purchased discs that a court might rule on it being legal.

The laws on the books stand until they are overturned. So it is currently illegal to break the encryption on DVDs, or own or traffic in software that does. Though obviously, Hollywood doesn't know exactly what you are doing in the privacy of your own house (ie, the likelyhood of you being caught and prosecuted is essentially nil).

There's some hint that the feds are at least thinking about loosing up a bit though:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/feds-considering-allowing-dvd-encryption-cracking/

[MOVIEGEEK]

From that article:

"If we didn't have access controls, there might be the same kind of mass piracy we've seen with unprotected music," Weirick said about the copying of DVDs...They said that there is no need to grant the public the right to make copies of their DVDs because the studios are streaming and selling movies online now, and that the public does not own the movies they buy on DVDs. They own the license to play it on a DVD, they argued.

Typical MPAA nonsense but it affirms what I wrote earlier, if the studios had their way you would have to pay every time you watch their content. The movie studios need to quit thinking all of us are pirates, the RIAA gave up on DRM on digital downloads and music sales are doing well. Besides pirates are going to upload copyrighted content whether it has encryption or not. I wish the US Copyright Office will allow us to make copies but I doubt it will happen.

[jagabo]

if the studios had their way you would have to pay every time you watch their content.

A separate fee for each eyeball.

[yoda313]

if the studios had their way you would have to pay every time you watch their contet

Thats essentially what you do with netflix or hulu plus. Thats what subscription based services are. Granted its over a much wider selection so its per view cost is lower but the idea is the same.

They own the license to play it on a DVD, they argued.

Thats basically all you get whenever you buy any software. It always says you don't own the software but are allowed to use it (a super paraphrase there, the legalese just makes your head hurt for the uninitiated.)

[Noahtuck]

Can you legally rip your BR and Dvd discs to a hard drive to watch..

NO!!

And any minute now the MIB are going to bust into your home to disintegrate you for all the TV show's you recorded to VHS from standard airwave reception you received from the huge @$$ lightning rod on your roof in the 80's!!!!!!!!!

They HAVE been keeping records for the last 3 decades!!!

YOU ARE NEXT!!!!!!!!!!

[budz]

Can you legally rip your BR and Dvd discs to a hard drive to watch..

NO!!

And any minute now the MIB are going to bust into your home to disintegrate you for all the TV show's you recorded to VHS from standard airwave reception you received from the huge @$$ lightning rod on your roof in the 80's!!!!!!!!!

They HAVE been keeping records for the last 3 decades!!!

YOU ARE NEXT!!!!!!!!!!

LmAO!

[budwzr]

if you own a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone Apple thinks you have to buy 3 copies of a video, one for each.

this is a good point. This is why I don't understand why they don't say yes or no either way on if it's allowed. Do they actually expect everyone to buy many versions to fit each format? I wonder if they get a cut of these media players just for this kind of scenario.

This is the reason apple is the media darling, and gets all puff pieces on the "news". Apple plays ball, while Netflix, Google want to cut through the baloney and good ol boy network of distribution.

That Steve jobs had a hand in everybody's pocket. The guy was like a carnival huckster with the "step right up.....", see the fat lady for fifty cents, then it's another dollar for this and that, and when you finally get out the back flap of the tent you're out ten bucks, and somebody stole your watch too. Hahaha.

[yoda313]

That Steve jobs had a hand in everybody's pocket.

Except ADOBE!

He treated them like they had the plague!

[budwzr]

It's weird because flash was really everywhere, except in Apple. Apple users apparently didn't care or mind. Jobs was like a hitler to them. Jobs dictated their minds, and what to think.

[Cornucopia]

No, at one time, Flash was really used by Apple/QT users as well. 2 Things changed that:
1. Flash had some (many?) security holes (more a good excuse than the true reason)
2. Adobe & Apple have had an antagonistic relationship the last 10 years (since Adobe started ramping up Windows apps and down Mac apps) and since it didn't follow Apple's model, they (Apple) decided to cut them (Adobe) out.

Sad really, as flash & qt were inseparable at the beginning and really made a difference in interactive presentations when combined.

Scott

BTW, I find it really amusing (?) that now Apple is primarily a CE hardware company (iPhone, iPad, iPod) or IP distributor company (iTunes, but notice that all 3 of those previous models all start with "IP"), rather than an OS/Software company. MacOS is now just like a legacy platform, it's got such a small share of the business's activity.

[budwzr]

When I go into a small business and I see Macs, I see it that the shopkeeper is probably charging too much for their product because they are not doing things efficiently even for themselves.

The whole Mac philosophy is "computers for non-geniuses", right?

[fritzi93]

I never got that, it's not like Windows is hard to use.

Anyway, I rip my Blu-Rays and re-encode using crf20 to MKV with BDRB. Then play them direct from external hard drive on my TV. Sure beats sorting through a pile of discs when I want to see a movie. And I'll be damned if I see anything wrong about that.

The MIB guys may come for me, but they better knock first if you know what I mean.

[RabidDog]

EVEN if they find loads of movies on your Hrd drive that is not a crime. The crime is either "publishing" them eg shareazilla P2P filesharing, or the breaking of encryption, which you can simply deny doing. Its like driving along with a dead body in your car, yes its unsightly and unhygienic but it in no way proves you killed the person. In fact you may be an undertaker. So unless the police could prove you have committed a crime, you're free to go, Mr Rodney King.

[budwzr]

If they come after me, they'll find my shootin' irons hot and empty.

[yoda313]

but it in no way proves you killed the person. In fact you may be an undertaker. So unless the police could prove you have committed a crime, you're free to go

Yeah but I don't think I'd want to be in that predicament in the first place. Being under suspicion would not be fun. I think that would be pretty obvious wouldn't it? I mean being an undertaker you'd probably be driving a car that looked like the one in Ghostbusters

But I think in general you are correct. As far as I know being in POSSESSION of ripped movies by itself isn't illegal. Its the act of ripping and downloading/distributing that they would try to go after.

Mind you we'd all be in trouble for the sole act of ripping. Ever since dvd shrink that would implicate a whole heck of a lot of people. And come to think of it don't smartripper and dvd decrypter pre date dvd shrink? Isn't dvd decrypter the granddaddy of them all? Who was that fellow - dvdjohn? Was he the one who developed dvd decrypter? Or was his some kind of command line thing? I remember the whole issue was so that dvds could be played in linux which didn't have the authorized players right?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Timeline(IIRC)
2000: DVDJohn cracked CSS and Macrovision.
2000: Shortly after Smartripper was released, development was stopped in 2001.
2003: LightningUK! released DVDDecrypter, sued by Macrovision and development stopped in 2005.
2003: Fengtao releases DVDFab, still being developed.
2003: Slysoft AnyDVD was released, still being developed.
2003: Unknown author released DVDShrink, sued by Macrovision and goes to work for Nero in 2005.

As you can see there was a flurry of releases in 2003.

[yoda313]

Thanks moviegeek.

So smartripper was first then dvddecrypter.

What was the original linux application called? Or was it only a proof of concept act at the time? Was smartripper also for linux?