Need Some Technical Help

[meQal]

I am wanting to convert some DVD that I have to an IPod. Is there a way to do so that is legally?

[ghouck]

I think the lack of replies is largely due to the laws being vague and confusing. Personally, I don't know what is legal and what is not. I've heard it is legal to make a backup of media you have legally purchased, but I really don't know. I know there are all kinds of software out there, even available in stores, to do what you want to do, but I still can't tell you where the line is drawn. On one hand people say it is legal to make a backup of legally purchased music and movies, but then I've heard it is illegal to circumvent any form of copy protection so who knows? I do know you can buy a DVD, rip the content to an AVI file, buy a network storage device to store the avi, buy a couple of media players that will allow you watch that AVI on a couple different TVs at the same time, but I don't know if it's legal.

[SPazzo]

OK, I have some experience in this.  Basically it's a gray area, as long as you are the only one who uses the files you ripped, you should be OK.  As long as you own the DVDs, you should be OK.  I actually asked this question on Yahoo! Answers a few months ago, here is the link:  http://tinyurl.com/yalp4yz.

There is several freeware programs out there that will decrypt a DVD.  Basically it takes the Video_TS folder and copies it onto your computer.  Then you will need a program to encode the Video_TS folder to iPod format.  The best program to do that is Handbrake. (http://handbrake.fr/) It IS a legal program.

Hope that helps.

[Rev. Powell]

Sorry, I didn't see this earlier.

The legal answer is: technically, it's probably not legal. You're doing more than creating a backup copy, you're adapting copyrighted material to another use.

The practical answer is (as SPazzo says), if you're making the copy solely for your own use, no one will care.  (I imagine if you went to the cops and tried to turn yourself in they'd just laugh at you).  Distribute it, either for pay or for free, and that's another matter.  I have to add "for free" because some people seem to think it's legal to distribute copyrighted material as long as you don't sell it.  I have no idea why anyone would think that, but it seems to be a common misconception. 

This post expresses my personal opinion and is not to be construed as legal advice, yada yada.