I was wondering, is there a legal way to make copies of movies that I have purchased (in CD form)? I have no intention of selling them, I just want to make copies for my wife and myself. Is there a safe program I can download? Are there any safe programs with wich I can copy movies that I can dowload which do not charge money?
Also, what is the best type of blank CD to use?
Thank you for any advice you can offer and have a safe and happy holiday.

Patrick

I'm assuming you mean commercial "hollywood" movies on DVD.

If so, then since you live in the US there is no legal way to do what you want.

It doesn't matter if you are going to sell them or not, or even if you destroy the original after making the copy. It's still illegal.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decss and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA

Now I think that making a personal backup of a DVD is legal as long as you don't do anything to get around the copyright protection. But I'm guessing that means there aren't a lot of DVD's you can copy. Anyway, check out this link:

http://www.burnworld.com/software/dvdburning/dvdcopying.htm

Hi,
Here is a link for copying DVD's to CD-R's:
For $40 software program, put a DVD into a CD-ROM drive, copy to a CD-R with a normal CD burner; don't have to have a DVD burner or player.

http://www.dvdcopyone.com/index.html

It isn't free. But, the site states that it is not illegal to copy a copyrighted DVD for a backup copy... It is illegal to sell the copy.
Best of luck.

It isn't free. But, the site states that it is not illegal to copy a copyrighted DVD for a backup copy.....It is illegal to sell the copy.
Best of luck.
Did you read the links posted by PSI and LT?

Of course a site selling copying software is going to state its not illegal to use their software. But the fact remains that it IS illegal to create or use software that circumvents a disk's copy protection. Since almost all copyrighted DVDs have such copy protection it would, therefore, be illegal to make a copy of such a disk, even if its only for personal use.

Hi,
When the Federal Judge in CA issued the ruling in Feb, 2004, he issued the ruling against a certain company. That company is taking the case to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
This judge did not issue any orders to remove any site, or company, from the web. There are many still selling software to copy a DVD.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-5128652.html

The entire issue is still "up in the air", with more court cases to come in regards to comsumer rights. Those still selling the software, other than the company taken to court, have not been sued or taken to court. There is a "fine line" with copywriting, and more is yet to come in regards to making backup copies for personal use.
Yes, ScottGem, I read the links already posted!

Obviously you didn't read it carefully enough. The Wikipedia entry on DMCA states:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) copyright (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright) law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law). The act criminalizes production and dissemination of technology that can circumvent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumvention) measures taken to protect copyright, not merely infringement of copyright itself, and heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. Passed on May 14 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_14), 1998 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998) by a unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton) on October 28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_28), 1998 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998), the DMCA amended title 17 of the US Code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Code) to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of Online Providers from copyright infringement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement) by their users.
On March 10 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_10), 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004) the European Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union) passed the EU Copyright Directive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Copyright_Directive) or EUCD, similar in many ways to the DMCA.

This means that the act is LAW. Until and unless it is overturned as unconstitutional by a court, it remains the law of the land. Ergo, violating this law IS illegal.

The CNet article you cite actually states this. They don't think it right and I agree with them. But that doesn't change that the DMCA overrides the long held doctrine of fair use allowing you to make copies for personal use. At least as far as material that is protected by the CSS copy-protection mechanism.

Firstly,if I had made a movie,distributed it worldwide,made a mountain of money,then discovered "Hacker Jon" in his bedroom in Warwickshire had put a "crack software" program on the internet,which allowed copies of MY movie to be written to a hard drive,then copied to a dvd-r disc,not unnaturally,I would sue.It's called piracy.
Even if you believe that the amount of money made by studio's,and ceo execs is obscene,that's still no excuse to break every law written in tinsle-land,no matter how bizarre it might look.The law is in place to protect the studio,the artist(s),and the distributers.
However,just to throw a spanner in the works,the French,who adhere to their own interpretation of US/UK laws,have said that 80% of DVD protection software is illegal in France.Depending on your point of view,and which judge deals with your case.See this link:

http://www.drmwatch.com/legal/article.php/3501261

Firstly,if I had made a movie,distributed it worldwide,made a mountain of money,then discovered "Hacker Jon" in his bedroom in Warwickshire had put a "crack software" program on the internet,which allowed copies of MY movie to be written to a hard drive,then copied to a dvd-r disc,not unnaturally,I would sue.It's called piracy.

But DVD Jon did not pirate your movie. He just cracked the CSS encryption mechanism common to Hollywood DVDs. You need his code to just watch a DVD on a *BSD or Linux box.

I understand exactly what your saying.I was just putting across the argument that if anyone of us made a successful movie,and it was pirated,then no doubt all of us would be upset.Cracking and piracy are two separate issues along a very thin line ;)

On a separate note,I thought Tactical is still missing a chair,quite funny,even in Finnish,with English subtitles.

On a seperate note,I thought Tactical is still missing a chair,quite funny,even in Finnish,with English subtitles.

Nice. ;) .