Hello all! Recently, I’ve added a few movies to my collection that give me the option to make a legal, legitimate digital copy (Star Trek, Terminator 4, Live Free or Die Hard). I haven’t used this option yet and I am somewhat hesitant to.
I know these digital copies have to be DRM-protected in some manner. If they were straight DVD rips I wouldn’t need to enter an authorization code. So I assume somewhere along the line this digital copy process is stashing some info in the Windows registry or somewhere else that says “Yes, media player, this copy of Star Trek is authorized” allowing me to play it from there.
Now here’s the part I’m worried about. I habitually reformat my computer. Sometimes for performance issues, sometimes for hardware upgrades. In any case, I’m known to nuke and pave like it’s going out of style. I assume if I do so, I lose whatever key or authorization or whatever it is that tells my system it’s authorized to play the digital copy. Is this the case? And if so, is there any point to having these digital copies? Can I back up whatever files they need in case I do have to format?
Really? Wow false advertising. I bought a DVD for my friend that contains a digital copy and was thinking of putting that on my computer since he has no use for it, but I didn’t realize it has some sort of extra cost. Is that typical?
Not sure. Ran into one asking me, said screw it, havn’t bothered to deal with the rest. Plus, it’s all DRMed crap anyhow. Easier to just rip things for myself off the original DVD.
I’ve never had to pay $5 to unlock a digital copy included with a DVD, and I’ve had about 50 of them thus far. Unlocked about half through Windows Media Player, the other half through iTunes. (I’m thinking there could possibly be some DVDs out there that come with an offer to unlock a digital copy for an additional cost, but every one I’ve had that actually states “includes digital copy!” does, indeed, let you unlock it for free.)
That said, they are indeed DRMed, and you have a limited frame of time to initially redeem the digital copy code (usually a calendar year from the DVD/Blu Ray release date… maybe this is another source of the $5 rips cited above, if the time frame has lapsed). Haven’t had to deal with the WMP-based copies, but I’ve been able to re-download previously-unlocked movies through iTunes at no cost.
My wife had bought a couple DVDs a while ago with “free digital copies,” Sex and the City and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but at the time we had no devices to play digital movies on, so we didn’t do anything with them.
Then when we got iPhones, and ahead of a long plane trip, I decided I might as well put the movies on her phone for her. Started with Sarah Marshall and it worked fine, but I was surprised that essentially all it did was access iTunes and the code allowed me to download without paying. Didn’t think it would take an entire extra disc to do that, but whatever.
Then I tried the same with Sex and the City, but I got a message saying that the offer had expired. No mention on the disc or the materials that came with it about any expiration or time limit, which I thought was pretty sucky.
**E-Sabbath **and Student Driver, what programs do you use to rip your DVD’s? How much does it cost?