Hi. I just came up with an idea to watch UMBA blacksmithing DVD's on my way to work on the bus. But, my laptop does not have a built-in DVD drive. So, I would have to rip the DVD to hard disk before I left on the ride. Somebody recommended a DVD ripper, which I know I need, but they also sell a DVD copy protection remover. They say that this is necessary to remove the copy protection before ripping. I just want to load a temporary image to view during the bus ride. Are the UMBA DVD's copy protected or not? Thanks in advance.:cool:

You want to request information on how to preform illegal activities?
And you want to post that request on a public forum for all to see?

Remember that we have more than a few LEO's (law enforcement officers) as forum members.

Why not contact UMBA and just request permission to copy the material to your laptop?

If you legally own a copy of the DVD...then ripping it to your hard drive is not illegal.

I own music CD's and rip MP3's of CD's that I own...same thing.

It's just a back up copy in case the original CD/DVD get damaged.

Hi. I looked into this and it is in a gray area. It is actually very deep and interesting, with some strong voices on both sides. Many construe ripping of copy protected DVD's as a violation of the DMCA, and therefore illegal. This is even if you own the DVD. According to the EFF, this falls under the same situation as reverse engineering. This can make you liable for a violation if you do something as innocent as repairing a welder by replacing a chip whose number was sanded off by the vendor.

Since I don't want to create a controversy, I would like to reword my original query. Do the UMBA DVD's have copy protection? If so, I will have to bring my external DVD drive if I would like to watch them on the bus.

These DVD-R's are copyrighted, therefore the only requirement is you do not make copies of these DVD-R's for resale.

UMBA Library <- link to the DVDs.

Which ones do you have? I have been considering getting some but I'm not sure which ones to get. There are A LOT of them....

technically the dmca is null and void by a prior supreme court ruling about vcr's