- Software programs used to copy DVDs, such as RealDVD, have been ruled illegal either by verdict or federal law. However, there are still numerous DVD copying software programs still available for sale.
- Although they lack features for decrypting DVD code, popular CD/DVD programs by major software manufacturers Roxio and Nero both have built-in features for burning previously decrypted DVDs to DVD-R discs, including built in compression to fit a larger commercial DVD onto a standard 4.7 GB DVD-R.
- In a 2009 case against Real DVD software, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel left it ambiguous as to whether or not it's legal to make personal copies of DVDs that you own. She stated, "So while it may well be fair use for an individual consumer to store a backup copy of a personally owned DVD on that individual's computer, a federal law has nonetheless made it illegal to manufacture or traffic in a device or tool that permits a consumer to make such copies."
- By all accounts, copying a DVD and redistributing it or reselling it is completely illegal. Even though peer-to-peer networks are jam packed with copies of DVD movies, it is illegal to download these files.
- All commercial DVDs come with a warning that states, "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning: Unauthorized Copying Is Punishable Under Federal Law..." However, since opponents and advocates of DVD copying are still battling this issue in the courts, the term "unauthorized copying" is vague in some cases.
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