So DVD burning products that ripped movies coding were considered illegal. New ripper-free versions of software were created but these do not usually work on commercial DVDs. For now, law basically states that you can not make a copy of a commercial DVD, even if that copy is intended as a backup for personal use. You certainly can not give that copy to anyone else or sell it or distribute it in any way.

There is a lot of software out there that surpasses copy-protection schemes on store-bought DVDs and will allow you to make copies but you should be aware that you use these at your own risk because law could charge you in violation of intellectual property laws.

There are however, legal DVD burning programs for unprotected discs such as your own home movies. These disc burning programs can also help you burn your home movies from VHS to DVD. If you purchase your software from internet, you may want to be careful to make sure you are purchasing legal software. You would not want to become subject of a legal situation later.

DVD Piracy

One thing that confuses many people is what is legal and what is illegal when it comes to copying DVDs. The same as copying CDs or downloading music from internet, this can be a very confusing topic. You may wonder why if copying DVDs is illegal, why there are so many sites that advertise how to do it. If you take notice, most of these sites advertise as how to make a “back up copy” of your disc. This means you are simply making a copy for your own use in case one copy was to become broken. This is legal. You can make as many copies of your own movie as you want. You are not, however, allowed to distribute those copies in any way. Many people think that as long as they are not receiving money for it, then it is okay to share them. This is false information.

If you buy a legal copy of a DVD movie, copy it yourself, then give that copy to a friend that is piracy. Even if you get no profit from it, you are cutting into profits of movie industry.