copying a dvd movie on my HD

[Doctor X]

Well, since I did the "Google-Fu":

goretsky: It is not legal to make archival (backup) copies of DVDs encrypted with CSS in the United States, even for personal use. The DMCA specifically took the long-held right to do this away from Americans when it was enacted. There are some people who state that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 could be construed to covering DVDs with respect to "home use" copying. If the Fair Use Act of 2007 passes, this may change in the U.S., however, for the time this should be considered the answer to that particular question in this forum.

LockerGnome

Ouch! This was back in October, 2007.

This guy claims there is a legal way to do it on a PC--with Real Networks software--because there are limits to what you can do with the copy. Whether that works legally with decryption or not I do not know.

There is a lot of "claims" made--that you have the "right" to make an "archival copy" of copyrighted material. However, as I stated in my previous reply, "claim" is not "judgment"--a company that made software to do this--specifically decrypting--was forced to close down--and my search brings up alternatives that rant against the decision the way some Ron Paul supporters rant about the IRS. Nice. The IRS disagrees!

A more recent question from CNET gives this similar response:

John Wilkinson: In the US the primary law cited in such cases is the DMCA, which forbids the circumvention of copy protection mechanisms except in extremely narrow exceptions that do not apply to the average individual. Some will argue Free Use gives you the right to do what you wish with the content since you purchased it, but at this time there is no such legal exception. Thus, despite their prevalence we cannot discuss the tools used to decrypt DVDs as it is technically illegal.

CNET

So, what about this "Fair Use Act of 2007" mentioned in the first quote which does provide an exception for archival use:

(G) The prohibition contained in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to–

`(i) an act of circumvention that is carried out solely for the purpose of making a compilation of portions of audiovisual works in the collection of a library or archives for educational use in a classroom by an instructor;

`(ii) an act of circumvention that is carried out solely for the purpose of enabling a person to skip past or to avoid commercial or personally objectionable content in an audiovisual work;

`(iii) an act of circumvention that is carried out solely for the purpose of enabling a person to transmit a work over a home or personal network, except that this exemption does not apply to the circumvention of a technological measure to the extent that it prevents uploading of the work to the Internet for mass, indiscriminate redistribution;

?

Still in committee.

--J.D.