Dear Lifehacker,

Is it actually legal for me to rip all of my DVDs and Blu-Ray discs? Most of the articles I'm reading aren't very clear, so I want to know if there's an actual, definitive answer. Am I going to get sued if I rip all my discs for playback on my computer?


Sincerely,

Rip-It Ralph

Dear Ralph,

You ask a number of different questions at once, so let's break this down into its most basic parts. The legality of ripping is a very confusing situation where you'll hear a number of different answers. Here's what you need to know. Note that we're focusing on US law here; other countries may have different laws, so check with a lawyer in your country for more details if you're not in the US.


Ripping copy-protected DVDs is illegal...

To answer the legality question, we called on our legal expert Derek Bambauer, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Arizona who focuses on internet law and intellectual property. While the legality of ripping is very complicated, the legality of ripping copy-protected content—which includes nearly every DVD and Blu-Ray disc you'd buy in the store—is a bit simpler:

The moment you crack DRM (Digital Rights Managemnt) to rip the DVD, you've violated Title I of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. 1201 prohibits circumvention of DRM . . . Some courts have tried to leaven this rather harsh rule, but most have not. While it's typically hard to detect small-scale circumvention, the question is whether bypassing DRM is legal. The statute sets up some minor exceptions, but our ripper doesn't fall into any of them. So, the moment a studio protects the DVD with DRM, it gains both a technical and a legal advantage—ripping is almost certainly unlawful.


We've talked about this a bit before—in fact, it's one of the ways most of us are breaking the law every day without even knowing it. There are minor exceptions—like for educational purposes—but in general no, ripping a DVD you own is sadly not legal. However, will you get caught? Well...there, you have some wiggle room.


...but you probably won't get caught...

If you don't particularly care about the legality, but are only worried you're going to get sued, then you have a distinct advantage. As long as you don't share the files, it's highly unlikely you'd ever get caught for this, since it all happens locally on your computer, with no internet connection necessary, so no one can "snoop" on what you're doing. Unless you were to have your hard drives seized by the authorities for one reason or another, no one will know.


Does that mean you should go rip your entire collection to your home theater PC? As always, that decision is up to you, whether you want to always stay on the right side of the law or take the (admittedly) minimal risk.

...and hopefully, it won't stay this way forever


This is the law as it stands right now, but as Derek mentioned, some courts have tried to change this section of the DCMA, but we've yet to achieve any real movement. However, ripping music CDs used to be considered illegal as well, until the RIAA decided to officially permit it (though they've waffled on that statement a bit from time to time). The MPAA is notoriously more stubborn, but as ripping becomes more common practice, we're hopeful that we could see this change in the future—or at least see an online store where you could download movies not riddled with DRM. Right now, though, this is just a hope, and as it stands, ripping a DVD you own is still considered illegal—as hard as it may be to enforce.

Sincerely,

Lifehacker

Title image remixed from Ilona Baha (Shutterstock) and Vladitto (Shutterstock).