Can you watch your legally purchased DVD’s on your video iPod?

I have quite a few DVD's in my collection that my wife has little interest in watching (usually because they are a bit violent or intense - like my 24, Donnie Brasco, Highlander, etc). I also have a video iPod , and I decided that I wanted to have the option of watching my videos on long flights, in addition to the audiobooks I listen to.

One option, of course, is to buy video content through iTunes - and I've certainly done that a few times. However, I already own copies of these movies so why should I have to pay twice just to see them on my little iPod screen?

Access denied!

There are several problems that prevent me from just copying these videos to my iPod:

• iTunes is not capable of ripping DVD's the way it rips CD's
• most commercial DVD's are encrypted with CSS (Content Scrambling System) so my (also legally purchased) copy of Nero 7 Ultra Edition will not rip them
• the copy protection laws under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) make it illegal to circumvent CSS

Let the research begin!

How fair is Fair Use?

I understand that the DMCA exists to protect content producers / owners, and I agree that stealing videos or music is unethical. However, under "Fair Use," consumers are allowed to make a backup copy of a CD or DVD and can store the original and watch the backup. This is no different from copying the DVD to your iPod, putting the original away and watching the backup that's stored on your iPod.

The problem is that the DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent the CSS encryption used on the DVD's, so you cannot make unencrypted copies of the content. This effectively prohibits you from watching your licensed video on one of the video devices you own, and seems a little ludicrous to me.

Nonetheless, the motion picture industry is taking a hard line to try to prevent consumers from watching their CSS-protected DVD's anywhere else. Only changes in legislation will make this any better, so if you're in the US and you don't like this Draconian approach, contact your representative in Congress and let them know how you feel about this.

What are the options?

The only means allowable under the DMCA is, apparently, to take your DVD's with you and watch them on a laptop or DVD player.

What about transferring your DVD to the iPod? If it's CSS-encrypted, your legal option is to purchase the content in iTunes (assuming it's available there).

I'll also share that, in doing some research via Google, I found that there are some free device drivers (try searching for DVD43, for example) that (on Windows XP at least) claim to allow you to use your DVD ripping software on commercial DVD's. From there, it should be a simple matter of using your ripping software to convert the video to MP4 format on your hard drive, adding the movie to iTunes, and synching it to your iPod. By the way - I also noticed that Nero Recode (a module included as part of Nero 7 Ultra Edition) has a preset for output to iPod compatible video.

If this approach works (remember, never rip anything you haven't paid for and don't share them with anyone else!) you will be able to use your iPod to watch your own DVD collection on the road.

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• Things to do in the middle seat (6/28/2006)
• Fresh gear: Travel headphones (2/10/2006)
• Technorati: gadgets, travel

Comments

[Pascal Venier]

I have no idea what the law is in the US, but here in the UK, it seems that whilst it is possible to copy music from a CD you have legally purchased on iTunes to listen either on your computer or your iPod, it is apparently illegal to do so.

I was very surprised to hear this explained by a leading lawyer who was recently interviewed on British television.

[Pascal Venier]

I fear I may not have been clear enough. A few commas would have been useful. English is not my mother tongue.

What I meant is the following: when one has purchased a CD, copying the tracks on iTune, to listen either on your PC or on your iPod, is apparently illegal.

[Eric Mack]

Dwayne, some friend at Disney explain why you can't (from the studio's perspective) do what you want to do with your own legally purchased DVDs.

http://www.ericmackonline.com/ICA/blogs/emonline.nsf/dx/a-fair-use-response-to-dwaynes-question-explained-disney-characters

[EM Sky]

Hey, Dwayne, thanks for this post. I personally feel that the "back-up" logic sounds reasonable. But I think part of the issue we're bumping up against is that burning a DVD from one format to the other is so easy technologically, making it very different from other media. (Perhaps it's similar to software, but even there, a program designed for Windows can not be simply "transferred" to a PDA. We have to buy separate copies for the separate platforms...)

If I buy a book and want to isten to it in my car, there is nothing to stop me from reading the entire thing out loud onto a tape player except for the time it would take me to do it. But that time is significant enough that most people will prefer to buy the audio version separately (and the writer gets a new royalty) rather than go through all the trouble. The same is true regarding scanning a book into a pdf file.

The second issue regarding "ease of transfer" is how simple it becomes for one person to "share" the electronic version with someone else, which is absolutely and definitevly illegal. (As you noted.) Unfortunately, the easier it is for people to steal something--and the less it "feels" like stealing--the more people there are in the world who will do it. The issue is not even one of "poor character" because many of those people would not recognize their own crime--copyright laws are neither well-understood nor well-respected among large cross-sections of the general public.

Just food for thought...

And Eric, thanks for posting the link to the video. I watched the entire thing, and it had me rolling!

[Roy Lawley]

Go to http://www.slysoft.com and you can download software that alows you to copy css protected dvd's cd's convert dvd's &cd's to put on your ipod.
ANYDVD disables the css protection and Clone DVD2 makes a quality compressed dvd that is just like the original.

There are also other great programs there like game jackel.