Backing up movies to hard drive?

[shelliewnj]

I just heard that there are programs that will back up your movies to hard disk or dvd. a few questions... is this legit? is it allowed? if so, how do you do it? thanks
my kids wreck their movies far too often and I was hoping for a viable solution other than not buying them

 

[matt190191]

I just heard that there are programs that will back up your movies to hard disk or dvd. a few questions... is this legit? is it allowed? if so, how do you do it? thanks
my kids wreck their movies far too often and I was hoping for a viable solution other than not buying them

I use this to backup my DVD's and games: Using MagicISO to create ISO image files this is also a good alternative http://www.poweriso.com/

 

[Speed Daemon]

I just heard that there are programs that will back up your movies to hard disk or dvd. a few questions... is this legit? is it allowed? if so, how do you do it? thanks
my kids wreck their movies far too often and I was hoping for a viable solution other than not buying them

If you legally purchased an authorized videotape or DVD of the movie, then you do have the legal right to make one back-up copy under Fair Use laws in the US. If you don't live in the US, I can't say for sure.

You're 100% OK making a copy to the same meduim that you got the video on. So if you have a DVD, you can clone it to a DVD-R as your fair use copy. Although the laws don't specifically permit it, you probably will not get into trouble storing, for example an .ISO image of a DVD on your computer. Things get murky when ripping the DVD to a non-DRMed file format like MPEG2/4, AVI etc. or put the ripped video onto a video server that can be simultaneously accessed by several users at once. But as long as no electronic copies ever leave your home, you should be safe. Likewise, you should be safe if you make a single DVD-R copy to use in the family car, and don't constantly replaced "vanished" copies.

Honestly, I doubt anybody will come after you if you make a second backup copy or exceed the fair use terms in other ways as long as you're not pirating the videos. But if you are someone who needs to be 100% law-abiding, it's one copy only.

Coincidentally, the US Supreme Court is hearing a case that may affect the status of copyrighted materials that are made outside of the US, regardless who the copyright holder is. This shouldn't affect you though.

 

[shelliewnj]

Thanks, guys! Yes, I'm in the U.S. and yes, they're my movies. my kids wreck them too quickly. i'm going to start making copies of the ones that are still good, and instantly make a copy of the new ones that come into the house. then we will use the copies as our main use copy so that if somethign happens to it, we still have the original this is awesome. thanks again

 

[Speed Daemon]

Happy to help; always glad to be of service!

Now when it comes to getting a damaged optical disc to work long enough to get a good copy, that's an art form unto itself. :laugh:

 

[shelliewnj]

yeah, if you ever figure that one out... you'll make a million dollars

 

[Speed Daemon]

yeah, if you ever figure that one out... you'll make a million dollars

Unfortunately not.

I can restore just about any disc that isn't damaged all the way to the metal layer. The problem is that it's more of a service than a product that I could license and sit back as the money poured in.

It's more of an entertainment thing for me. I like to see just how far and wide I can go to read a scratched disc. It's the thrill of the challenge.

 

[shelliewnj]

Wow! I am NOT good at that. Mostly once they're scratched, we bin 'em :-(

 

[slipkn0t2012]

Try using dvd shrink . I've used it for years, works beautifully

 

[Speed Daemon]

Coincidentally, the US Supreme Court is hearing a case that may affect the status of copyrighted materials that are made outside of the US, regardless who the copyright holder is. This shouldn't affect you though.

FYI the Supreme Court ruling is in, and it has no effect on this topic. The case was about a Thai college student studying here in the US, who got his parents in Thailand to send him English language textbooks that were sold there for domestic Thai use only. He figured out that he could sell the books for a profit, and made a cottage industry out of it. The textbook company in the US sued the guy and he took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. And today they ruled that ownership and sales of copyrighted materials remains the same in the US, no matter where they came from.

So the student is off the hook in the US, although I suppose that Thai authorities could get all Medieval on the whole family if they want to.

If the Supreme Court had ruled against the student in this case, it might have had far-reaching repercussions that might have affected the fair use doctrine. But since the ruling went the other way it's all good.